Cross
by Firestorm-244
Summary: Two years have come to pass since the fall of Debonair. In a world with no Pillar, how is it possible to tear through space and time to reach the other worlds? What will be Lantis' place in the grand scheme of things?(Multi Genre)PG 13 for mature content
1. Go Forth Cephirian Children

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me! Now stop harassing me about it!  
  
  
  
Cross: Chapter 1 Go Forth Cephirian Children  
  
Clef looked up as the tall black-armored Mahou Kenshin strode into the room, an unreadable expression etched into his face. Lantis was the last to show up, out of the select group of people, whom Clef had asked to meet with him in the chamber, where the master mage had previously been observing the now peaceful Cephiro.  
  
Clef cleared his throat as he brought his attention to the present assembly, consisting of Ascot, Caldina, Ferio, LaFarga, and Lantis, who expectantly stood before him.  
  
"Welcome, everyone," he began. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face as he contemplated his words. The intensity of his foreboding was weighing down on his shoulders and he felt he'd withheld the information he'd collected for far too long now. He sighed and decided to address the circumstances. "I have asked you all here because, for the last few days... I have discovered an odd presence that has been trying to, make- what I believe to be a gateway out of this world."  
  
A look of puzzlement and uneasiness filled each of their faces.  
  
"A gateway?" Ascot inquired. "Where too?"  
  
"Regretfully, I am not certain. That is why I must ask some of you to- "  
  
"I'll go." Ferio announced, rudely interrupting Clef before he could finish. He knew where the master mage was heading and was more than willing to investigate. His eyes flickered with excitement. So long as it got him out of his duties he didn't care. He was about to get up, when Clef detained him.  
  
"No. You must stay here, I'm afraid. As does LaFarga and myself." Clef stated.  
  
"Then why did you ask me here?" There was annoyance in the Prince's voice and disappointment in his face. He slouched in his seat until the ice glare LaFarga gave him forced him to sit upright again.  
  
Clef closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh of exasperation. He noted to him self that he seemed to be doing that more and more around Ferio then continued. "I felt it necessary for you all to know. Ferio as Cephiro's only prince, it is important that you keep up to date with the current events of your own country." Clef declared as he looked over at the green haired young man. That answer seemed to satisfy Ferio's question. Though a groan escaped his lips, at the reminder of his status.  
  
He redirected his attention to the captain of the guards, LaFarga. "I wish to ask you to step up security for a while."  
  
"I'll see to it, once this meeting has adjourned."  
  
That being said, Clef turned to the other three he had yet to speak to. "Caldina, Ascot, Lantis. It is you three whom I would to investigate-"  
  
"Sure I'll go," Caldina interrupted. Clef gritted his teeth and messaged the ridge of his nose betwixt his eyes. It was incredibly frustrating to be constantly interrupted and he made a mental note to try to keep Caldina and Ferio out of the same room from now on. "You're in too, right Ascot?"  
  
"Uh, well...I guess I'll go. What about you Lantis?"  
  
Up until this point his arms had been crossed and he appeared to only pay partial attention. His hands fell to his sides and he gradually turned away from the small group. "I'll go..." Lantis said over his shoulder as he began to head towards the large double doors he'd only just entered moments before. "By myself."  
  
"But, why?" Ascot inquired.  
  
"You are not needed," Lantis he stated arrogantly. He wasn't in the mood to be bothered with them and if he was to perform an investigation, he'd rather tale care of it all by himself. "Stay here, and make yourselves useful by assisting the Captain guard."  
  
"Are you implying that I am unable take care of the security procedures myself?" LaFarga asked as Lantis walked by him.  
  
Lantis ignored his question and kept walking. The blond-haired swordsmen's look hardened at his discourtesy.  
  
"Take Mokona with you at least!" Clef called. "He'll show you where to go."  
  
Lantis stopped a minute, looked over at Mokona who seemed incredibly happy and energetic, as usual. He nodded respectfully to Clef. Leaving the meeting room as abruptly as he had come. A "puu" escaped from Mokona and it hurried off in pursuit of Lantis.  
  
"Sheesh! What's up with Mr. Moody? Has he been reading up on how to be a total ass lately, or someth'n?" Caldina spat, breaking the silence, left in his wake.  
  
* * *  
  
Lantis had already made his way to the castle doors. He didn't bother to greet the guards on duty, or even make eye contact for that matter. Yet they stood at full attention as he passed by. Most soldiers knew very little about him or what his significance was. However, some, well informed, knew that he had been the captain of the guard before LaFarga had taken over that position.  
  
No longer within the Castle's crystal base perimeter, he stopped, wondering which way to go, He heard a guard take a few steps towards him and he turned and glared. His piercing gaze instantly stopped the man and he went back to his post. He attempted to sense the supposed presence the Master Mage had spoken of but found he couldn't and he realized why Clef had wanted Mokona to accompany him.  
  
When Mokona finally caught up with Lantis; after taking a minute to catch it's breath, it started to hop in the direction they were obviously supposed to take. Lantis followed.  
  
Lantis observed the area, sword held at the ready in case of a monster attack. Monsters... So long as People inhabited the land, it would seem that they would never fully disappear. Though there weren't half as many now as there had been when the Magic Knights of Legend had arrived in Cephiro. There were still a few that occasionally had to be dealt with. For the most part, the monsters stayed in the thicker forests where most people usually didn't venture anyway.  
  
Lost in thought he was caught off guard when something landed on the crown of his head. His muscles tightened instantly ready to attack. Relaxed a bit when he realized it was only Mokona. Lantis gently, so as not to hurt it, grabbed it and dropped Mokona on to the ground, "Stay off my head." Was all he said to the little ball of fluff.  
  
"Puu! Puu." It said as it pouted, but decided to resume its hop.  
  
Lantis' thoughts started to wonder a bit; thinking back on all the events that had taken place when those three girls had come to Cephiro for the second time...  
  
The Magic Knights...They had killed his elder brother Zagato. His only brother. Zagato and him had been very close. Lantis had looked up to him, respected him. The brothers had been the best of friends. They could tell each other their deepest and darkest secrets, without one looking down on the other. So why was it that in spite of all that, he had no feelings of hate towards those girls? It was a question he always asked himself. Why did he not grieve over Zagato's death? In one way he felt as though he should have wanted revenge, and it bothered him that he did not.  
  
But how could he blame them girls? They only did what they were supposed to do. Had he, himself intervened, perhaps things would have worked out differently... He could have fought on Zagato's behalf, to make his wish a reality. No. That wish was a selfish one. It was a decision made by a man he could not bring himself to call his brother. Cephiro's fate would have been doomed. Fore Zagato didn't care what would have become of Cephiro.  
  
Zagato had changed into a rather twisted and cynical person, He'd committed myriad horrible atrocities, some that probably no one still alive knew about. All Zagato did was bring pain and misery. It was dangerous to love the way his brother had. Lantis wondered though, had the circumstances been different. Had their rolls been reversed, and it was Hikaru in place of Emeraude, it was very possible that he would have taken up those same actions...  
  
He stopped walking abruptly. Noticing that Lantis' footsteps had ceased, Mokona turned to see why. He veered off of the path and made his way over to a nearby stream to get a drink. The area they were in was nice enough. Tall, healthy trees surrounded them from every direction. The occasional chirp or whistle could be heard from birds close by. He bent down to scoop up the fresh water and sipped it. He then splashed some water on his face. It was a little warm today and it didn't help any that he was walking around in heavy, black armor.  
  
Lantis starred at the water a moment before finally coming to a decision saying "Ah, screw it." Just before dunking his head under the refreshing, cool water.  
  
A distant memory of the conversation he had had with Zagato before he'd originally left Cephiro began to slowly filter into his mind...  
  
  
  
"So then Lantis, what will you do?" Zagato inquired.  
  
Lantis was silent, what was he to say to that? He averted his gaze away from his brother. Conflicting thoughts and emotions were fighting each other inside him. He had no idea how to answer Zagato's question.  
  
"Leave then," was the only thing his elder brother said.  
  
Lantis looked up to meet his brother's eyes.  
  
"Leave Cephiro."  
  
Lantis raised his head up out of the cool, refreshing water, taking in a much needed breath. Pushing the flashback of the conversation with himself and Zagato to the back of his mind. Streaks of water ran down his face and down the back of his neck. Slightly soaking the clothing that was underneath his armor.  
  
He looked around to see if he could find something to wipe his face with. Mokona, who had been drinking from the stream as well, noticed Lantis searching for something and cried out. "Puu, puuu, Puu!" The little fluff ball cried out, as towel magically appeared before Lantis.  
  
Lantis in turn, thanked Mokona. Then took the towel and dried himself off. Looking up to the sky, he raised a hand in front of his face. Shielding his eyes from the bright sun's rays. 'It'll probably be dusk in about three hours,' Lantis thought to himself.  
  
Mokona jumped up on Lantis' shoulder, just as he was about to resume their journey.  
  
"Hmm..." Lantis reached up and grabbed Mokona by the scruff of its neck-well where it's neck would be if Mokona had a neck-and dropped it onto the ground. "Stop sitting on me," he ordered in mild annoyance.  
  
"Puu!" Mokona protested as it stamped its foot on the ground.  
  
"Which way do we go?" Lantis questioned while he ignored Mokona's little tantrum.  
  
"Puu. Puu!" It cried and ran off in the direction they had been walking previously.  
  
Lantis then withdrew his sword out from behind his back, and summoned his horse. Mounting it, he rode off in Mokona's direction.  
  
* * *  
  
Hey Fuu. How's America? Umi typed, as she elegantly glided her figures over the keys of her keyboard. Have you done much sight seeing? Nothing much has happened here since you left on that exchange student uh...thing. Hikaru asked me to tell you she say's 'Hi.' She would send you an E-mail herself, but you know Hikaru, practically computer illiterate.  
  
I'm gonna try to teach her how to do some stuff on the computer other than play pong. Which of course, you showed her how to play. So, anyway when she figures out how to use the E-mail account I gave her, I'm sure she'll send you a message. E-mail me back when you get this. I gotta go now. It's getting late. Ja! Umi clicked the send button and waited for the: "your message has been successfully sent" words to appear.  
  
"Umi dear? It's getting late. You should be getting ready for bed should you not?" Her mother stated. "You have fencing practice tomorrow morning don't you?"  
  
"Yes mother, I know. I was just sending Fuu an E-mail." Umi explained as she shut the family computer down. "It's been two and a half weeks since she left. I just wanted to know how she's been doing."  
  
"Fuu? Is she the polite girl that comes over and sometimes helps you out with your homework?"  
  
"Yeah, that's Fuu." Umi answered.  
  
"She's very polite and well mannered." Her mother pointed out. "You could learn a little something from her."  
  
"My manures are just fine!" Umi defended. Her mother just giggled. "I don't have to stand here and take this. I'm going to bed!" she announced. And headed towards her room.  
  
"Good night Umi." Her father said as she passed by him.  
  
"Oh, good night father."  
  
* * *  
  
How long had Hikaru been walking through this bleak hallway? Hardly anything was distinguishable. The doors on either side of her were blurry, as though they weren't even really there.  
  
She paused. Directing her attention at something that stood out, it took shape and Hikaru realized it was a white door. She figured that was what the other doors would look like if she had been able to see them clearly. She stood there a good few minutes just staring at the door, she'd been drawn to it for some reason...  
  
"Are you going to open it Hikaru?" A familiar voice inquired.  
  
She knew who it was instantly. "Eagle, when did you get here?" Hikaru asked as she turned to face him.  
  
His smile was bright and his tone cheerful as ever, "I'm always here when you wish me to be."  
  
She redirected her attention towards the door. Slowly she raised her hand up to the doors' knob. She peered in through the opening and saw the beautiful country Cephiro; much like how she'd seen it when, Umi, Fuu and herself were summoned there for the first time by Princess Emeraude.  
  
"This, is from when...I first went to Cephiro." Hikaru began, "Before...Before I killed Princess Emeraude and High Priest Zagato..." She darkened, as she remembered mercilessly killing not only Zagato, the brother of the man she deeply cared for, but Princess Emeraude as well, the poor innocent girl who had been no longer able to bare being away from her beloved. Hikaru was never truly able to get over the grief, guilt and pain she'd felt in her heart ever since those horrible chain of events had taken place. She solely blamed herself for their deaths. "These hands..." She said raising them up to her face, "these hands are tainted and stained in blood..."  
  
Eagle came up behind her, "they look clean to me." he softly spoke as he embraced her from behind. "Please don't be so sad Hikaru, there's no sense in dwelling on the past. Being so sad doesn't suit you at all. What you did could not be helped. It was out of your control, you had no choice."  
  
"Thank you Eagle, for trying to cheer me up." She said smiling at him, "However I can't help but sometimes feel unworthy of Lantis' love...I don't deserve him..."  
  
"Don't be silly. You know that's not true." Eagle protested. He released her from his embrace, "Looks like you have to go." Eagle stated. "I promise I'll visit you again Hikaru."  
  
"Don't forget," Hikaru whispered. "Even though I will, when I wake up..."  
  
Eagle chuckled a little, "I'll see you later Hikaru..." He slowly faded away.  
  
  
  
Hikaru's eyes opened. It must have been at least midnight. "Was I dreaming?" She muttered still partially asleep. Sometimes after she went to bed, she'd wake shortly after. Knowing that she had been dreaming, but never remembering what about. Usually she was unable to get to sleep anytime soon after waking. Tonight was no exception.  
  
Hikaru pulled back her blanket and stood up, and raised her arms up to stretch them out. Realizing she would not be able to go back to sleep just yet, Hikaru turned and walked out of her room. Silently, she moved in the hallway, not wanting to wake her brothers. Making her way into her kitchen, she then began to search for a glass, deciding that what she wanted was a glass of water. After bumping a few things on the counter, as she searched aimlessly in the dark, she finally came across a glass. She wondered if it was clean or not, but then remembered that tonight Satoru and herself had cleaned up the dishes. So the glass was undoubtedly clean. It was only when her other two brothers did the dishes together, that one had to wonder if they were really clean. Sometimes they would miss spots on the glasses and plates. Or they wouldn't dry them properly, so cups sometimes stuck together resulting in some dishes being thrown away.  
  
Hikaru held on to the glass as she walked over to the fridge, where a jug of water was usually kept. Satoru sometimes brought home spring water when he returned from grocery shopping. Sometimes she would buy water but only in the small bottles so she and her brothers could take them to school.  
  
Deciding to go sit outside to drink her water and get some fresh air, she slid open the door and then closed it again once outside. She sat down beside her dog Hikari who had just been sleeping moments before Hikaru came outside.  
  
"Hey Hikari!" Hikaru quietly greeted.  
  
Hikari wagged his tail as Hikaru lowered her hand to stroke his soft fur.  
  
Hikaru took a sip of water as she heard the door behind her slide open. A tall young man stood in the doorway, looking down at her. Even if she hadn't turned around, she would have sensed whom he was. "Elder brother..."  
  
"May I sit down?" Satoru inquired as he closed the distance between them.  
  
"Of course." Hikaru politely replied.  
  
Satoru sat down beside her and asked as he reached over to give Hikari a pet. "Why are you up so late?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, did I wake you?" She said as she took another sip of her water.  
  
"It's alright." Satoru began. "I couldn't sleep either. Were you having a bad dream?"  
  
"Maybe..." Hikaru stopped playing with Hikari and hugged her knees up to her chest.  
  
"What do you mean?" Satoru looked a little worried at his one and only sister.  
  
"I don't remember what the dream was about," is all she said.  
  
"Are you feeling alright Hikaru? You have been training a lot more seriously over the last few months," her brother stated. "Have you been wearing your self out?"  
  
Hikaru raised her head and looked up at Satoru, "Oh, No. It's nothing like that. I'm fine, really!"  
  
Satoru looked as though he was about to say something else, but reframed from doing so. That was one of the reasons she and her brother got along so well. He didn't push, but always let her know in his own way that he was there for her if she needed him. Strict but kind, that's what made him a good brother and also a good sensei. She held a great admiration and respect for him.  
  
"It's getting late Hikaru," Satoru announced. "I suggest you go back to sleep."  
  
"Yeah, I know." She got up and turned to go back to her room, "Thanks Satoru."  
  
"Good night Hikaru..." Satoru said as he watched her disappear through the doorway and into the shadows. Which left him alone in the dark to ponder.  
  
* * *  
  
It was now well past dusk and Lantis had decided to stop for the night and continue on this little journey he was on tomorrow. He'd already eaten thanks to Mokona and was about to climb up a tree to sleep in for the night when, Mokona used its power to create a small shelter right in the middle of the dense forest. The shelter was in a dome-like shape, with a door leading inside just to Lantis' right.  
  
He stood there a moment, before deciding to go in. He figured that it was probably safer and more comfortable than sleeping up in a tree. Plus he wouldn't need to worry about falling out of the shelter. That was one of the downsides to sleeping in trees...  
  
As the tall kailu entered the dome, he noticed there was a bed with a nightstand. Across from the bed was a couch and table. There wasn't a lot to the room, however, that suited him just fine. He had never felt it necessary to have rooms filled with miscellaneous trinkets. The colour of the walls were white with a slight pink tint to them, much like the colour of Mokona's fur. The colour of the room, Lantis did not care much for, 'but the room it self will suffice.' he thought.  
  
Willing his armor to disappear and return into his sword from which it had come, he sat down on the bed and drowsily began to undress. First discarding his black, long sleeved turtle neck shirt, then his pants. He neatly folded the two articles of clothing and gently placed them on the nightstand beside him. Which left him wearing only his under garments.  
  
'Lantis?' Clef's voice sounded inside his mind. The old mage was speaking to him directly through telepathy; a skill that he was easily able to use long before Lantis had even been born.  
  
'What is it Master Mage?' Lantis asked as he continued to sit on the edge of the bed.  
  
'How long do you suspect it will take for you to reach your destination?'  
  
'A day or so more, most likely.' Lantis answered. Even when speaking telepathically, he still spoke in a rather monotone voice.  
  
'Good. Try not to make it any longer than that. We should get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.  
  
'I agree...' For some reason, the memory of the conversation he had had with his elder brother attempted to return to him again. Quickly, he pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He had no wish to relive his past just now.  
  
'Lantis, is there something troubling you? You were acting exceptionally cold towards everyone today.' He was sensing something amiss with the magic swordsmen.  
  
'No. It's nothing.' Lantis abruptly answered. 'It's late. Good night.' Breaking the link between Clef and himself, he pulled back the sheets and climbed into bed, then pulled the covers over himself.  
  
It was then that Mokona chose to interrupt the silence. "Puu, Puu!" It chimed as it jumped up on the bed.  
  
Lantis wasn't quite sure what Mokona had said, but it obviously wanted to sleep on the bed. Sighing, Lantis rolled over to his side, with his back to Mokona and eventually drifted off to sleep...  
  
* * *  
  
A tall young man stood at a clearing as he held his sword erect, enabling him to see his reflection in the sharp blade. "I'll get revenge for their deaths..." His deep voice declared to no one in particular.  
  
He stood roughly at 5 "9'. His hair varied in colour, predominantly a blue-ish black to having light blue bangs. He wore no armor, merely a standard black two piece suit. He felt no need to wear armor for his magic was strong enough to fend off any monster this now peaceful Cephiro may send him. There was a sense of pride and confidence in his aura that even the residents of Cefiro who possessed no type of magic would easily be able to pick up on. He looked any where between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. However appearances were deceiving for he wasn't even that old.  
  
"Have you been able to successfully generate a portal to Earth yet Lord Sakuya?" A familiar feminine voice asked behind him.  
  
"Very soon...I will be able to cross over to the parallel world..." Sakuya replied in a serious tone, without turning to face her.  
  
"You are the only one of Cephiro capable of opening a portal, or rather a gateway to Earth." She softly spoke, as she moved closer to him. "Tell me, what do you intend to do when you arrive on Earth?"  
  
"I will kill the murderer of my parents- I will avenge their deaths." He coldly answered.  
  
"Yes, of course you will. That's the reason I've been training you hasn't it." She paused a moment before continuing, "Don't forget, we made a deal. After you kill her, you will assist my lord and master in obtaining the organizations' goal."  
  
"I know that. I shall stay true to my word, Umi." He said finally turning to look at her. Her hair was a long, wonderful, dark blue, which always reminded him of the ocean. Her skin was a pale white-ish colour as usual. She was the only person from the organization he could stand.  
  
"You still have time to turn back, I tell you this for your sake. Once you kill her and fulfill your mission, you will have to help us destroy the four countries: Farhen, Chizeta, Autozam and your birth place Cefiro. So that these four countries will merge with Earth. You may end up indirectly killing many innocent people, for I do not know what will happen to the inhabitants of these four lands. Knowing all of this, are you still willing to put your people in jeopardy for revenge?"  
  
"They are not my people. I don't care what happens to these countries." His eyebrows narrowed. "My only wish is to kill that girl. Their lives will be worth the sacrifice." Sakuya softened slightly. His face becoming warm and friendly. "Please Umi, we are friends are we not? There is no need to call me by my title, just Sakuya is fine."  
  
"Yes, Sakuya, we are." She smiled warmly at him in return, "I hope that you will be safe on your journey. I'm afraid I must leave now, I am to report to General Drako." Pulling something out of her pocket, she flew it into the air and in a flash of light Umi was gone.  
  
"Umi."  
  
To be continued.  
  
Authors Notes: Hope you've enjoyed my fic. Feedback is much appreciated. 


	2. Portals, Swords and Injuries!

Author's NoteWell, here's chapter 2. Sorry about it's lack of lengthiness. I'm trying my very best to write the characters in character. If you feel like they're starting to go OOC, them let men know. So far though, I don't think I've done that. The Umi thing will be explained, but not for a while yet. I want to work it in later on in my fic, but if I can't, I'll explain in an author's note. Also, if for anyone who doesn't know or hasn't figured it out, this fan fiction is based on the anime rather than the manga. Partially 'cause I haven't read the manga yet. Partially 'cause I really liked Nova, partially for other miscellaneous reasons. That said I leave you to read chapter 2.   
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Stupid disclaimers, I hate them! Obviously I didn't create Rayearth. If you think I did. You're almost as stupid as disclaimers! Now onto the fic.  
  
  
  
  
  
Cross: Chapter II  
  
Portals, Swords and Injuries  
  
  
  
Hikaru awoke to the faint beams of sunlight attempting to gain entrance into her room through the shutters on her window. Sitting up, she rubbed the remaining sleep out of her crimson colored eyes. She pulled back the warm sheets and stretched as she got out of bed. Slipping out of her pajamas, and into her training clothing, she quietly made her way over to the unoccupied room. This was the room in which she spent at least an hour in meditation every morning. Before entering the room, she glanced at a nearby clock which read '5:37 a.m.'  
  
"I'm up about twenty minutes earlier than usual." Hikaru said to no one in particular, as she sat down on the cool wooden floor. She straightened her back allowing herself to sit upright. Closing her eyes, her breathing gradually slowed, as did the beating of her heart. Hikaru almost always found a sense of balance and peace when she went into her daily meditation.  
  
  
  
She new it was time to get up and get ready for school when she heard Masaru yelling at Kakeru to 'wake up' in the distance. That's how it was every morning, she always new when it was time to get up because that was the time her two brothers started yelling at each other.  
  
"If you don't get up now, you'll end up being late for school!" Masaru yelled into his younger brothers ear.  
  
"Okay! Okay! I'm up already!" Kakeru shot back.  
  
"You're impossible Kakeru! You can't even get up at seven o'clock on your own. But Hikaru's up every morning at six o'clock sometimes even earlier!" The second eldest brother of the Shidou household scolded.  
  
"Yeah, well she goes to bed earlier than me!" Kakeru defended.  
  
"And I go to bed later than you! So that's no excuse!"  
  
Hikaru chuckled a bit at her brothers daily bickering. You could tell time by them, she always found it quite amusing. She headed back to her room to change for school. Then walked over into the kitchen to find Satoru cooking breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, Satoru ne-san!" Hikaru enthusiastically greeted.  
  
"Good morning Hikaru." Satoru said, turning his attention away from the stove for a moment. "You're just in time for breakfast." He passed her a plate with eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns on it, a very westernized breakfast.  
  
"Thank you!" She said as she graciously accepted the meal and set it down on the table. Then went to retrieve four glasses and set them on the table as well and poured orange juice into each glass. Just them her two other brothers entered the room, "Good morning!"  
  
"Good morning." Kakeru in turn greeted. "You're pretty happy this morning, what's up?"  
  
"Hikaru is almost always happy in the morning, unlike you." Masaru taunted.  
  
"Well, how would you feel if every morning someone splashed cold water on your face?" He threatened.  
  
"Here." Satoru said, handing Hikaru a small grocery list. "These are a few things we need. Can you get them after school?"  
  
"Sure." Hikaru replied as she finished the last of her breakfast. She took the list and placed it in her pocket. Then went over to the jar where they kept all of their grocery money. I need to go now, I'll see ya later guys!"  
  
"Bye Hikaru!" The three brothers said in unison, Satoru saying it in a less enthusiastic tone. Not intending to sound rude or cold, that's just the way he spoke.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"I fold!" The tall sandy blond haired girl declared, as she fell down on her knees. She rested her rapier on the floor beside her, "It's to early in the morning for this!"  
  
A sly grin formed on Umi's face over the recent victory, "Well Mei, I guess you should not have challenged me now should you?"  
  
"I didn't think you'd be so tough on me!" Umi's friend protested.  
  
"Well sorry. But when someone challenges me, I don't hold back, regardless of the time of day! You don't become the school's best fencer by being soft on the enemy!" The light blue haired girl lectured. It was towards the end of today's fencing class and Mei had been foolish enough to challenge her to a match, wagering that Umi was only bluffing at how skilled she'd become since the last time they'd spared. She lost that bet though, for the match had only lasted a few moments, before Umi rained victorious by Mei's forfeit. "Why'd I even bother, that win was WAY to easy." She gloated.  
  
"Hey, don't let one easy win between us go to your head. You've got a big enough ego as it is already!"  
  
"And just what's that supposed to mean?!" Umi questioned, as her fist non- threateningly shook.  
  
A whistle blew in the other end of the gym, as the instructor gestured everyone to come over. One by one each girl returned their swords to the small equipment room, where they had gotten them earlier. Then quickly proceeded to move over to where their instructor was. After listening to the brief announcements being made and going over the routine steps all the girls should practice in their free time, they were dismissed to change and head over to their morning classes.  
  
"Hey Mei, what class do we have first thing this morning?" The fencing captain inquired as they left the change rooms.  
  
"Uh." The young girl stopped walking and took a moment to contemplate Umi's question. "I think we have English, yup English."  
  
"Nani? No fair!" Umi yelled.  
  
"What's not fair?" Mei asked.  
  
"To have English class today! I was in such a good mood too. There should be a law against having English on a beautiful Friday morning!"  
  
"Oh, yeah. You don't like our English class do you Umi?" Don't like was an under statement. This year, though it was early in the school year, she'd developed a great disliking of English class. Which was probably all compliments to the new teacher she had.  
  
"No, Mei. No I do not." Umi replied flatly. "Ahhhhhh!" She screamed as she realized that to her misfortune, this morning when she was rushing out the door, she forgot her English notes on the breakfast table. "Shooooot!"  
  
"You forgot your notes again didn't you?" Mei teased. "Looks like you're hallway bound."  
  
" Oh, shut up Mei! Sometimes you can be as annoying as Mokona!" She accidentally blurted out.  
  
"Mokona? Who's that?" Mei asked with raising suspicion.  
  
"Uh, well.Uh, oh crap! We're gonna be late for class!" Umi declared and ran off in the direction of their classroom.  
  
Placing her hands on her hips, Mei watched Umi with a questioning look on her face as she watched her friend run off. "Sometimes Umi, I really wonder about you." she said under her breathe before following after her friend.  
  
* * *  
  
Lantis was nearing his destination. It was mid day now, and for the most part, it had been a beautiful, sunny, warm day. However, for the past hour or so, the weather had changed. The sky had become considerably darker, the temperature in the air had dropped and an eerie breeze had crept up. Energy fluctuations had also been occurring. Silently Lantis ran along the pathway, deciding that his horse would create far too much noise, and would actually slow him down if he were to ride it. The path was very narrow, rocks and tree roots jutted out of the ground. If he were to try riding his stallion, he would have chanced injuring its legs. What ever lay a head of him; Lantis figured it best to hold the element of surprise.  
  
As Lantis reached the clearing he discovered a fairly tall, dark haired young man, with blackened earth surrounding him. The clearing had once been a field of grass and wild flower, but no longer. Now it was just scorched ground and rock. It must have been caused by previous attempts to open this portal that Clef had been talking about.  
  
"Who are you?" the young man questioned as he turned to face Lantis, a thin sword was raised and he assumed a fighting stance.  
  
Lantis was taken a back slightly. Though he had been running, he'd done it rather stealthily. 'He should not have been able to detect my presence,' Lantis thought. 'Unless he posses some type of magical lineage.' That would make sense, no one else appeared to be nearby, 'but no magic is emanating from him...'  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Lantis spoke in a deep, low voice just loud enough for the other man to hear. "I was just about to ask you that very question" However, unlike the man standing ten feet away from him, Lantis did not prepare to attack, he merely stood there, observing his surroundings.  
  
"I have no wish to fight with you. However, if you are going to get in my way, then I'll just have to remove you." As if on que, a small portal appeared, shooting out tendrils of light blue electricity in every direction. For a split second, Lantis was able to make out his face. His features mirrored little to no emotion, his hair was predominantly a darkish blue. This mans posture was much like his own. Lantis had never seen this person before, and yet he felt as though he knew him from somewhere, but where was what eluded him.  
  
With out warning, the man broke in to a run towards Lantis, who in turn, reached behind his back and brought forth his own sword. Sparks flew as the two blades clashed against each other while the men dueled.  
  
"Who are you?" Lantis question as he parried an attack.  
  
"I'm Sakuya." He replied as he continued his assault.  
  
"Sakuya?" Lantis repeated. 'That name, where have I heard it before?' The faint memory of the conversation he and Zagato had had, threatened to resurface, but now wasn't the time. Lantis was pulled away from his thoughts and back to reality as a searing pain shot across his upper left arm. Stunned, he grunted in pain as he felt a warm trickle run down his arm. The first splash of blood had been spilled across the dead ground.  
  
"And you are?" The proud young Sakuya inquired in an arrogant tone. He snapped his wrist, jerking the blade of his sword to the side. Allowing the remnants of Lantis' blood to fly off.  
  
'He's better than I had originally anticipated,' the mighty kailu realized. He'd underestimated this mysterious stranger. He had skill, obviously no novice and showed promise as a swordsmen. "I am Lantis," he answered as he studied the young mans movements. The pain in his arm hadn't subsided, however, the burning sensation of a fresh wound was no longer apparent. His injury would require tending to later.  
  
Sakuya once again took up the offensive side, forcing Lantis to once again take defensive. The sounds of blades crashing against each other could be heard over wild thunder in the near background. The two weapons fiercely struck each other again, and again, each with deadly accuracy. Lantis was steadily gaining the upper hand, becoming more aggressive than before. Allowing himself to go along with the flow and rhythm that had developed, which enabled him to sense Sakuya's on coming attacks. He skillfully slashed at his opponent's neck, missing only by inches as his blade slid across the other mans face. Sakuya snapped his head to the side as he felt the bladed force of energy tear into his skin. It was now Sakuya's turn to bleed.  
  
Slowly he raised his hand up to his cheek where Lantis had just slashed it. He gazed down at the dark crimson liquid that now ran down his fingers. 'Never have I been injured like this.' granted it wasn't a serious wound, but it would most likely leave a scar. 'How dare a mere swordsmen.' He looked up to his adversary, a dangerous fire in his eyes. "I've not the time to be playing these foolish games with you." He said in a disgusted tone as he jumped back, secretly forming a ball of energy in the palm of his hand, and firing it.  
  
He'd yelled something, however Lantis was unable to decipher the word. The attack released was so unexpected that Lantis had little time to react. Seconds before impact Lantis attempted a shield. "CRYSTA!" he called as the energy wave hit. The shear force was so strong; he felt a sharp pain shoot across his right temple as he was propelled back wards, his shield proving to be less affective than he would have liked. He was engulfed in a bright light as he fell back. The last thing he remembered was laying on cold wet ground in a small pool of his own blood before he passed out.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Cha La, Head cha la. Oh wait, that's Dragonball Z. Woops, wrong anime. Anyways, was that good? Bad? Indifferent? I'm especially proud of the duel between Lantis and Sakuya. Hey, does anyone know what or weather Clamp ever gives the ages of Hikaru's brothers? I'd really like to know. If they don't, I'll have to make up ages. But I don't want to that if Clamp already gave ages to them. 


	3. Meet The Brothers

Chapter III  
  
Meet the Brothers  
  
'What the heck.' Hikaru thought, her concentration had been broken when she sensed a strange, yet familiar aura. She found herself clutching the golden pendant she always wore underneath her clothing, 'could it.possibly be Lantis? No way, that's just wishful thinking.'  
  
"Hikaru, heads up!" one of her fellow team mates cried.  
  
"Huh?" she muttered, before she realized that the volleyball had been spiked and she was right in its path. With only seconds to spare, Hikaru bent down slightly and volleyed the ball behind her. The girl who now stood in the balls way had expected it to bean Hikaru square in the face, so she wasn't prepared when it came hurling towards her. She bumped the ball in an attempt to get it over the net however there wasn't enough force for it to successfully go over the net on its own. That's when Hikaru jumped up and spiked it onto the floor just as it passed by her in mid air.  
  
"Point!" her gym teacher declared after she blew her whistle.  
  
"Wow Hikaru, I thought it was going to bean you right in the head for sure" the girl behind her said.  
  
"Pay attention to the game!" Akane scolded, "If I hadn't warned you, we would have lost that point!"  
  
"Uh, gomen. I was just distracted"-  
  
"By the wall?" she yelled.  
  
"The wall?" Hikaru repeated, "I wasn't distracted by any wall."  
  
"Don't lie! You were just standing there like a zombie staring at the wall. Honestly, I really don't understand what's so interesting about that particular wall!"  
  
"I wasn't staring at the wall!" Hikaru defended as everyone got back into position and waited for the upcoming serve. "I thought I'd sensed something."  
  
Akane stared at her blankly for a moment then let out a light chuckle, "I think someone's been watching one too many Dragonball Z OVA's."  
  
"But I only watch them when I'm at your house. I don't really watch that much TV- Oomph." Hikaru was knocked onto the floor, this time the ball DID hit her.  
  
"You're a very strange little person, you know that Hikaru? Now pay attention to the game!" Her competitive friend bellowed.  
  
"It wasn't my fault," she said as she lay, sprawled on the floor, "and why does every one make fun of my height?"  
  
* * *  
  
Sakuya awoke with soft blades of damp grass brushed against his face; there were faint sounds of children frolicking in the near distance. He rolled over onto his back and glanced up at the miserable gray sky. The smell of rain was apparent; looking around, he noticed that the trees and plants dripped with sparkling droplets of water. His clothing, which consisted only of a black, long sleeved shirt and pants, his footwear and his under garments; were completely soaked. By his side, he found his broad rapier. He took a moment to think, he knew he was no longer in Cephiro, for he had run into the portal right after Lantis had been propelled into it, "Guess I'm on Earth." he said aloud. Standing up, Sakuya saw young children playing in sand, some running around and climbing on large objects that appeared to protrude out of the ground. Umi had told him about such places, 'This must be a park.' He thought as he placed his left hand in his pocket, then pulled it out again to see what was in there. Now in his hand, held some sort of money. 'What the, how did that get there?'  
  
  
  
"It appears as though he has arrived safely," the tall platinum blondish haired man stated. His clothing foreign to this world; the beautiful pearl white material of his outfit bore a golden trim and a circlet was worn around his head. He stood atop a nearby building which over looked the park.  
  
"Nearly all of his energy was used while he was opening the portal." Umi said, walking up to where the man stood whom was observing Sakuya. "He should fully recover in a few days," she declared as she rested her chin on her lords' shoulder.  
  
"You are wanting to stay and watch over him?" he asked gently as he moved behind her and held her in his arms.  
  
"I have always watched over him, however this is something he must do on his own. I'll only intervene if it becomes necessary Eagle."  
  
"Then let us return to head quarters. The Organization does not realize that I too posses the rare ability to jump from one reality to the next. I'd prefer to keep my little secret just between the two of us."  
  
"As you wish," Umi closed her eyes and fell limp as Eagle's embrace purposely robed her of her energy. Focusing his thoughts, Eagle created a portal; much like Sakuya's.  
  
"We'd best leave now my dear," he said as he picked up the now unconscious Umi and carried her through the portal. Once he arrived in this Earth's Cefiro, he concentrated once again and opened a gate way to the Organizations' dimension.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey Kakeru, pass me some gauze, and a broad bandage so I can cover up this cut." Maseru called as he held up Lantis' injured arm.  
  
Slowly Lantis opened his eyes. A second later he bolted up right, clutched the sides of his head as an agonizing pain shot through his skull. He fell back onto the soft bedding as he clenched his teeth together to hold back a grunt of pain.  
  
"Don't move!" The dark brown haired man who had previously spoken commanded.  
  
"You must take it easy!" Another yelled. Which really didn't help the mind, numbing headache he was experiencing.  
  
He opened his eyes again and attempted to focus on the two men who were talking to him. He winced from the pain and wanted nothing more than to just pass out again, but forced himself to stay awake. "Who.are you?"  
  
"This is my younger brother Kakeru," he said gesturing towards the young man with the dark red hair. Their hairstyles and facial features were very similar.  
  
"Yo." Kakeru greeted.  
  
"And I'm Maseru."  
  
"What's your name?" Kakeru interrupted.  
  
"Lantis." He replied.  
  
Just then, another entered the room, "What is going on?" the tall light brown haired man question. It was Satoru, the oldest brother. He had just fished teaching his advanced kendo class and had no idea what was going on. He then spotted the black clothed man lying on the bed. It was obvious he was hurt; Satoru could easily see the deep cut on the man's upper left arm. Thick red liquid trickled down the side of his face, from underneath a blood soaked bandage. "What happened to him?" he needs a doctor.  
  
"It's alright." Lantis began, sitting up slowly this time. "I have experienced worse injuries than these. All I require is some rest." looking down, he noticed a sterilized needle and thread.  
  
Realizing the other mans intentions, Satoru walked over to where they were, "Move over Maseru." He commanded. Taking the needle, he threaded it and directed his attention towards the stranger. "I must request that you remove your shirt so that I can tend to your wound."  
  
"Satoru, you gonna sue this guy's arm up?" Kakeru asked in a slightly disgusted tone. The youngest of the three brothers never did like the sight of blood, nor did he particularly enjoy watching flesh get operated on.  
  
"It's too deep a cut to leave open," Satoru stated looking over at his two brothers whom had moved out of his way.  
  
"Come on Kakeru, neither of us really want to watch this, so let's go meet up with Hikaru at the grocery store."  
  
"Hikaru?" Lantis' muffled voice questioned, as he pulled his black turtleneck top up over his head. However, the three siblings hadn't heard him. Though he didn't catch what the conversation was about, that name had jumped out at him, 'Hikaru.' he repeated over in his head.  
  
"Don't worry.uh, Lantis was it? Satoru has had some first aid and medical training. You'll be fine." Kakeru called as he and Maseru left.  
  
"Hold still, this may hurt." Lantis gave a curt nod as Satoru pierced the open skin with the needle. The needle dug its way through the layers of skin and into the slightly torn muscle; he pulled the thread through the layers to make the stitch tight as he pulled the gashed skin together. He repeated the act many times, occasionally taking a damp cloth to wipe away the excess blood.  
  
A barely audible grunt escaped Lantis' lips as the needle slowly dug into him, eventually numbing his flesh. It had become apparent that this man had not been kidding when he said he'd had worse injuries. A deep scar ran across the side of his rib cage; running from the upper left side of his chest, to the lower part of his back. Another scar was spotted over his right shoulder, which ran half way down Lantis' shoulder blade. Both scars looked as though they were very deep, 'perhaps they'd cut all the way into the bone.' Satoru thought. He could only imagine just how painful it must have been upon receiving such scars.  
  
"Those are some rather nasty wounds you have," Satoru said as he completed the last stitch. "You are a swordsmen?"  
  
"I am," Lantis coolly replied.  
  
Satoru fiddled through the open first aid box and retrieved a small bottle of disinfectant. After pouring some of the bottle's contents on a pad of gauze, he then placed it over the cut and wrapped it with the broad bandage. "I thought so, these recent wounds look like they were caused by a thin sword, a broad rapier perhaps?"  
  
"A swordsmen as well I see." Lantis again winced; his head still ached. An unfortunate side effect, which sometimes occurs when one, takes on a magic attack head on.  
  
"This is the Shidou dojo of Kendo," he informed, "I am its Shihan."  
  
"Shidou?"  
  
"You should rest now," Satoru, announced as he gathered up the scattered medical supplies "I'll check on you later to see how you are doing. Feel free to stay for as long as you require."  
  
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Lantis lied back down as Satoru left the room. 'Hikaru. guess this is her world.' He thought as he drifted into sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
(Authors notes: Well that was chapter 3. Like it? Hate it let me know. This originally was part of chapter two, but again I thought it best to divide the chapter in half. The next chapter will be much longer and will probably take me longer to type.Damn my weak typing skills. If you would be so kind as to rate or review my story, I'd be ever so great full. Praise or flames, which ever you think it deserves. Oh, also for anyone not sure, a Shihan is like the top teacher guy in a dojo. Being that in the manga, Hikaru's father is on a kendo training trip thing, and in the anime there isn't even any mention of him, I'm going under the assumption that that part of the manga universe is the same as the anime and thus because her father was away for so long, Satoru became head of the house hold and succeeded his father as the new Shihan.) 


	4. Welcome, R&R, A Time of Recovery

Authors Notes: Wow, Thanks for the reviews peoples. I'm happy to know that you like my fic. And to keep in mind that I'll probably be revising this Chapter, and the ones before it at a later date. Also this time, I mean it when I say that the next chapter will take me a while. The only reason this chapter is finished is because of the winter break.  
  
Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? I think not. I don't own Rayearth, never have, never will. Unless of coarse Clamp came and knocked on my door and asked my to help them make another season, but what's the likely ness of that happening? Not good. Any way, onto the fic:  
  
  
  
Chapter VI: Welcome,  
  
R & R, A Time of Recovery  
  
Hikaru hadn't been able to shake the peculiar feeling she'd experienced during her gym class earlier this after noon. Ever since she'd zoned out, she'd felt kind of weird and slightly disoriented. School was now over and the only thing she wanted to do was get home as soon as possible. However, she currently stood in the middle of the crowded local grocery store, looking for various items on the list Satoru had given her. So far she'd been lucky enough to get most of the items with out too much trouble. Usually she would get trapped in a crowd and wouldn't be able to get at the necessary items she needed until the people lessened in density. 'Yet another disadvantage to being short.' She thought. 'Well, even though I haven't been pushed, stepped on, or squished, I still wish I weren't here. I just want go home…' Normally she didn't mind going on after school errands, but today she had a barely controllable urge to just run home.  
  
She hastily continued down the isle she was in. looking up and down to see if there was anything there she had to get. "Ah, ha!" Pickles, specially requested from Kakeru. 'Did he like the sweet kind or the dill?' she wondered. She could never remember for the life of her which one he preferred, and he was never specific as to which one he liked; just assumed that everyone already knew. Hikaru stood there, a good three minutes with both jars in either hand before finally declaring "Dill. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's dill he likes." She said to herself aloud. She tended to do that a lot it seemed, talk to herself. It was a habit she had picked up while in Cefiro and never really got around to breaking it.  
  
Putting the small jar of sweat pickles back on its shelf, she continued on her way.  
  
Check. She scratched off yet another item on the list, the Parmesan cheese. Leaving that isle, she forced her way through the crowds to end up in the dairy section. Two hands suddenly covered her eyes; she fought down the instinctive urge to flip over her attacker roughly onto the dirty tiled floor of the store as she realized whom the hands belonged to.  
  
"Guess who?"  
  
"Uhh, Masaru?"  
  
"Yep! How's it going?"  
  
"Actually, I just need one more thing…Uh, Masaru?"  
  
"What is it?" he inquired.  
  
"Can you take your hands off of my face?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, sorry." He let her go and stepped back slightly.  
  
Hikaru then spotted the last item on the list and reached up to get it. She stood on the tips of her toes and attempted to stretch her arm even further. Masaru simply walked over to the shelf, raised his arm slightly and claimed the product, then handed it to Hikaru. "Thanks…I feel short…" she frowned slightly then brightened again, "So Masaru, what are you doing here anyway?"  
  
"Kakeru and I decided to meet you and help carry the groceries home." He cheerfully replied.  
  
"Where's Kakeru?" she asked, turning her head from left to right in search for him.  
  
"He's…"  
  
"Right here!" Kakeru announced, suddenly appearing behind Hikaru.  
  
"Where were you? I can't take you anywhere without you getting yourself lost!" Masaru huffed.  
  
"I was off trying some free samples." He answered as he held up a toothpick.  
  
"That's why you ran off ahead of me?"  
  
  
  
"Hey Masaru? Kakeru?" Hikaru called over from the cashier. She'd just finished paying for their groceries and was trying to wave her brothers over to give her a hand, "I thought you said you came here to help me."  
  
"How'd she… When did she do that?" Masaru questioned.  
  
"I dunno…" Kakeru replied as they headed over to where Hikaru stood, bagging groceries. Each Shidou grabbed a bag and headed home.  
  
  
  
"You guys didn't need to come and meet me, I could have managed by myself." Hikaru said.  
  
"Yeah, well… neither of us wanted to stick around the house while Satoru was stitching up that guy's arm…" Masaru explained as the trio turned a corner and continued home.  
  
"Meow? What guy? Was it one of Satoru's students?" the curious little red head inquired.  
  
"No, it wasn't a student," Kakeru butted in. "It was some guy we found who was lying unconscious in front of our house while Masaru and I were running home to get out of the rain."  
  
"He was hurt pretty bad and was bleeding all over the place," Masaru continued, "neither Kakeru or I were able to find any identification on him, but when he regained consciousness, he said his name was… Lantis, I think."  
  
Hikaru stopped, frozen in her tracks. Had her brothers' taken notice of her reaction, they would have also heard her whisper, "Lantis…" everything around her fell away as she thought of him, she always associated wolves, the smell of fresh grass after a rain, calmness, when she thought of the Kailu whom had easily captured her heart. Thoughts and questions ran through her mind as she resumed her former pace, before her brothers had noticed that she'd even stopped.  
  
'Lantis…' she repeated his name over in her head, 'so the energy I felt earlier really was his' a smile curled up on her lips, which soon faded and her face quickly turned to worry, "Will he be okay?"  
  
"Uh… Well, I think he'll be alright," Masaru called, over his shoulder. "He said that he had had worse injuries before and he just needed to rest for a while."  
  
Pulling open the front door of the Shidou house the three pilled in as Kakeru yelled, "Hey Satoru, we're back!"  
  
"Kakeru, be quiet." The older boy scolded, as they made their way to the kitchen. As the three put the groceries away, Masaru noticed the cooking pot on the stove. "Guess we're having soup for supper…"  
  
Just then Sataru entered the room. He walked over to the stove and gave the soup a stir, "Do any of you think you could get our guest an extra blanket? He appears to be running a bit of a fever…"  
  
"I'll do it!" Hikaru declared as she dropped the bag of bread currently in her hand and dashed off to fetch Lantis another blanket.  
  
"Hikaru's such a wonderful person! So enthusiastic to help someone she doesn't even know, what a Samaritan!" Kakeru proudly stated.  
  
  
  
A blur of long, red hair wiped down the hallway as Hikaru silently ran towards the small, blanket-infested closet. Pulling back its doors, she frantically searched for a warm comforter, afraid that if she wasted time, Lantis would disappear before she would get the chance to see him again. Finding the blanket she was looking for, she snatched it up into her hands and quickly ran over to the usually vacant guest room. It was only when she reached the room's entrance that she slowed into a stop. She only now realized that a sense of nervousness was slowly claiming her. It had been along time since she'd last seen him, last heard his deep sexy voice… The sixteen year old girl had missed him terribly during his somewhat lengthily absence, and wished to confirm his presence by seeing him herself with her own eyes. A shaky hand lightly touched the room's door; she merely stood there for a few moments before finally deciding to slide it back.  
  
Quietly, Hikaru crept into the dim room. Step, by step, she gradually made it over towards the person who lay in bed. 'Why am I so nervous?' she wondered as she stared down on his still form, her blanket slunk from her side to the floor. Kneeling down, she brushed aside the black strands of hair covering a good portion of his face, only to have them fall back into place when she removed her hand. His features hadn't changed since she'd last seen him, "It really is you isn't it Lantis?" He didn't answer her, but she knew indefinitely that it was Lantis. His aura had given him away, though it was faint, she could feel it reaching out to her own; attempting to wrap around her… Hikaru smiled lightly when she saw him mouth her name. In his current state, Lantis lacked the ability to awaken from his deep slumber; she knew that. The young red head noticed a nasty gash on his left arm that had recently been stitched up; his fore head was bandaged. 'Thanks for taking care of him brothers…' Hikaru wondered what or who could have inflicted such deep wounds on the kailu as she spread the heavy blanket over him, "How is it that you're able to be here in the first place?" She questioned, but received no answer.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
The annoying, loud ring of the dining room phone refused to cease until Umi roughly picked up its receiver, "Hello?" she said in a gruff tone.  
  
The voice on the other end of the line was full of cheerfulness and excitement, "Hey Umi! How've ya been?"  
  
"Oh, Hi Hikaru," she said flatly, "I'm okay, you?" she choose to pull up an empty chair and sat down. Their conversations tended to be rather extensive.  
  
"I'm good. Uh, did I catch you at a bad time?" she inquired, responding to the lack of enthusiasm in her friend's voice.  
  
"No, not really. I was just doing my English homework," the knight of water distastefully answered.  
  
"What's wrong Umi? I thought you liked English."  
  
"Yeah, I used too. It was my favorite subject actually. Well, that is until this year…" She explained.  
  
"Did the work load get too hard?" Hikaru innocently questioned.  
  
"No, I get the best marks in my class. It's just… I believe my English teacher's evil." She stated, "Stupid mean old man! If you're late for class, sometimes forget your work and don't have at least a ninety percent average, he'll harp on you till you go nuts! Unfortunately for me, those things happen to me pretty much on a daily basis. I can't always be right on time; because of fencing, but he doesn't think that's a valid reason to be late. He won't even let one minute slide! Plus he hates me for some reason; he doesn't pick on anyone else like how he picks on me. The man is evil." Umi huffed.  
  
"He sounds mean," Hikaru said as she fiddled with her phone's cord. "I guess that's why you don't care much for the subject anymore…"  
  
"He's so crappy! Because of him, I've lost my love of English class. I feel as though there is nothing that will ever rekindle my love of the subject."  
  
Hikaru couldn't help but giggle at that. Umi was trying to sound dramatic and make her feel sympathetic towards her, but it wasn't working. To be honest it sounded really pathetic.  
  
"Sure, laugh at my pain!"  
  
"Umi, no offense but don't ever pursue an acting career."  
  
"Whatever. Well, I doubt that you called just to listen to me go on about evil English man, so what's up?"  
  
"Huh," Hikaru had nearly forgotten why she'd called Umi in the first place, "Oh yeah! Did you by any chance sense anything today, anything sort of weird at about quarter after one?"  
  
"No, why?" she tentatively asked.  
  
"Well, I sensed someone. Guess who it was." She excitedly ordered.  
  
"Uh… the guy who did the voice of Yuki in Kaikan Phrase?"  
  
"No. It was Lantis!!!" she screamed into the phone, barely able to contain her excitement.  
  
"Ahh!" Umi temporarily pulled her ear away from the phone until Hikaru stopped yelling, "Can you tone it down a little? I don't want to go deaf!" Umi yelled into her phone, but not with the same excited and enthusiastic tone Hikaru had possessed.  
  
"Gomen nesai Umi." She said in earnest.  
  
"Hmm… Lantis you say huh?" Umi said, getting back on topic, "that mysterious tall man in black? Are you sure? I mean he sort of lives in another dimension…"  
  
"I'm sure. He's sleeping in the guest room as speak!" she beamed.  
  
"He's living in your house? Is your brothers' okay with that? You kind of like him right and he- well don't your brothers kinda go crazy even at just the thought of a guy being even remotely interested in you?" Umi inquired, imagining Hikaru's brothers yelling at Lantis about how no one is allowed to have any sort of relationship with her unless they beat the three Shidou brothers and even then only start out as being pen pals…  
  
"They don't know, and they don't have to know that…" she trailed off. There was a brief pause before she continued, "That I kinda… really like him," she timidly finished. She always got so shy around these types of subjects…  
  
"Oh! A secret love, forbidden romance!" Umi teased.  
  
"Umi! It's not like that!" Hikaru defended. Had Umi seen her face, she wouldn't have been able to tell Hikaru's skin apart from her red hair; the blush was so deep… "He was hurt pretty badly, in a recent fight."  
  
"Really?" Umi was serious now, "Is he going to be okay?"  
  
"I think so." She quickly explained how Kakeru and Masaru found lying in the street and about his injuries.  
  
"So he's just been sleeping since you came home?" Umi began after, listening to the short story, "and he didn't even wake up to say Hi? How rude!"  
  
"That's not what concerns me. He obviously needs the rest." She sounded as though she was in deep contemplation. "I want to know how he got here… I thought only a Pillar could summon people."  
  
"Well Hikaru, even though you gave the power of the pillar back to the people of Cephiro," Umi began. "You're still technically the Cephiro's Pillar right? Maybe you subconsciously called him here to earth so you could see him."  
  
"It's a possibility, but I don't think so. If I had, I think a lot of my energy would have been drained."  
  
"Your energy wasn't drained when we went to Cephiro the second time." Umi pointed out, as she drew swirls on a nearby scrap piece of paper.  
  
"Yeah, but I think when we went that time, I sort of subconsciously drew some of yours' and Fuu's energy to help get us there. Also, I never anything to you guys at the time, bet when we did go back, I did feel a little weak for a while back then.  
  
"Well why didn't you tell us Hikaru?" Umi questioned jumping off her chair, "We would have let you rest, regain your strength."  
  
"I know, but I didn't want to slow you guys down…"  
  
"Look, if anything, Fuu and I slowed you down Hikaru," her left arm made miscellaneous gestures in the air as she continued, "You adapted to Cephirian life way sooner than either of us did. Your magic and level in swordsmen ship was far beyond ours… It pains my ego slightly to admit that they probably still are."  
  
"That's not true!" Hikaru protested.  
  
"As a matter of fact, it is."  
  
"Well… I wouldn't have been able to get as far as I had without you and Fuu to back me up and fight with me."  
  
Looking down at her watch Umi let out a light sigh, "Unfortunately, I have to get off the phone; evil English homework and all. Want to come over after school tomorrow? You could E-mail Fuu about your news!"  
  
"Sure, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Bye Umi."  
  
"Later."  
  
Click  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"Good evening General Drako. You wished to see me?" Umi inquired as she entered the small room.  
  
At the moment, the General's back was to her, "Feeling better?" he asked dryly.  
  
"Yes, I am. Is that all you wanted? If so, then I'll be on my way," she turned to leave when the elder man crabbed her arm.  
  
"No! I'm not finished with you yet!" he yelled. He always was short tempered. He was trying to sound threatening; make her feel insecure. There was no doubt in Umi's mind that he was physically stronger then her. However, to someone whom has control over the elements, physical strength is nothing. He was nothing, nothing but an annoyance.  
  
"Let me go." The young girl barely half his size warned. Her uncompassionate eyes were like ice, beautiful, yet deadly. Her voice, as usual held no emotion. Umi was serious.  
  
He refused to let her go, "I demand you tell me where you were earlier!" he said as his grip on her tightened. Her narrowing eyes looked down on his unwelcome hand. The hairs on the back of the General's neck rose as he felt the room's temperature drop drastically. "I am your superior, answer me! You worthless foot soldier."  
  
She ignored his demand and merely told him to yet again let go of her. The General felt his hand slowly going numb as he kept a firm grasp on her arm. It had gotten so incredibly cold all of a sudden… 'Was it that witches doing?' Drako wondered. The arid room continued to drop in temperature when, it suddenly reverted back to normal. He turned to find Eagle standing in the doorway.  
  
"General Drako, is there something the matter?" the new comer questioned.  
  
"No, of course not Lord Eagle. Everything's fine," he replied. Finally deciding to release his hold on Umi, he straightened himself and asked, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"  
  
"Umi was with me earlier," Eagle declared.  
  
"I see," the elder man's eyes narrowed slightly, "may I inquire as to what you two were doing that was so important to pull my subordinate away from her usual duties?"  
  
The blond haired man closed his eyes momentarily then brought them to gaze into Drako's, "I really don't think it's your place to be asking me what I was doing," he stated coolly. The General stood there disoriented and merely nodded, unable to shake the sudden hazy feeling. "It is none of your concern." Eagle was right. He was the higher ranked in authority and both men knew it.  
  
"My apologies sir."  
  
"You'll have to excuse Miss Ryuuzaku, General Drako. I require her assistance," he turned to leave.  
  
"Very well sir."  
  
"Oh, and General? I suggest that you do not disregard her advice the next time she asks that you yet go of her," with that said he left knowing Umi would quickly follow soon after. 'That man's mind is so easily manipulated.'  
  
"You are lucky that man favors you," Drako said, quietly to Umi.  
  
"And you're lucky to still be alive," her icy cold words echoed as she left him standing there bewildered.  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey, Clef? You okay?" the green haired prince asked the old Master Mage. Clef's body looked as though it belonged to that of a young boy, but in Cephiro, as many know appearances can betray the eye, for he was roughly seven hundred and a half years old.  
  
"I'm fine Ferio," the incredibly short man who stood at the bottom of the spiral staircase in the library, replied. He sighed, "Actually, I haven't been able to communicate with Lantis. I have reason to believe that he is no longer in Cephiro."  
  
"What? What do you mean Clef?!" Ferio asked, his eyes staring down on the mage.  
  
"The disturbances have suddenly ceased and I can no longer sense his presence…"  
  
"I"- Ferio was cut off when the frantic Mokona came bursting into the room with Ascot and Caldina following closely behind.  
  
"PUU!"  
  
"Hey, what's going on?" Ferio questioned the group.  
  
"Dunno," Caldina began. "Ascot and I were heading over to the dinning hall, when Mokona here came running past us."  
  
"I was wondering what was going on with Mokona, so Caldina and I followed him here." Ascot continued as he tried to catch his breath.  
  
"So, it's true… Lantis is no longer in this world Clef sadly stated. 'What happened? I don't understand…' Clef thought. 'Had Lantis been killed? Perhaps he got himself caught in the portal that opened. But, Lantis wouldn't be that careless…'  
  
"Puu, puu! Puupuu Puupuu!" The lightly pink colored creature yelled.  
  
"There was a fight?" Ascot said, repeating a bit of what Mokona had said, "Between Lantis and… a guy named Sakuya? And they both went into the portal that this Sakuya guy made?!"  
  
Mokona let out a small "Puu" and nodded in confirmation.  
  
"So then, what are we going to do?" Ferio interjected, "I mean yeah, now we don't need to worry about Cephiro's well being but what about Lantis?"  
  
"I'm afraid that there is nothing we can do for him." Clef flatly stated.  
  
"What?" Ascot questioned, slightly surprised at Clef's declaration.  
  
"But… Clef…" Ferio started. Both young men looked uneasy; they knew how much Clef cared about his disciples and wondered why he was able to just turn his back on Lantis so quickly.  
  
"There is nothing any of us can do… The only one capable of summoning or rather sending people from one world to another is the Pillar."  
  
"But Hikaru gave the residents of Cephiro the power of the Pillar!" The heir to Cephiro's throne protested.  
  
"Not quite. Yes she abolished the Pillar system and gave us the power to control Cephiro's fate. But that is all she did, do you not remember her words? She did not give us the power of the Pillar; she gave us the power to will Cephiro's stability without the need OF a Pillar," Clef vainly tried to explain. He knew they wouldn't get it, he didn't fully understand it himself, "Still, Hikaru and Hikaru alone can summon people from one world to another, only she has the power to do this," he looked from one dumb founded face to another, "Oi. Look, I know that it is confusing and rather frustrating… But it's just the way it is."  
  
"Then how was this Sakuya fella able to make a portal?" Caldina asked.  
  
It was now Clef's turn to look dumb founded. "I… don't know…" Was all he said?  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Hikaru happily sat on the Ryuuzaki's entertainment room. Actually, it was more like Umi's entertainment room. On a count of, she was pretty much the only one that ever went in this room of the house; save for the cleaning maid. The room was relatively small compared to the other rooms more frequently and commonly used by Umi's parents. There was a desk in one of the far corners, which harbored a computer slightly older than the one up in the family den, a chair, a T.V. that had a Playstation II, a Dreamcast and an old SNES hooked up to it.  
  
Umi was currently pacing back and forth, "So Hikaru, Which do you want to play?"  
  
"Huh? Uh, no that's okay. I'll just watch you play on the Playing Station," Hikaru answered while looking up to meet her friends azure eyes.  
  
"It's not Playing Station. It's a Play Station II." Umi corrected, "Plus I all ways play. Common give it a shot. Nearly two years I've known you and never once have you played any video games."  
  
"That's not true, I've played Ping Pong on Fuu's computer!" The red head protested.  
  
"Ping Pong doesn't count. Any ways…" She quickly browsed through her collection of playable games for the PS2, "Aha! Here, try this one; it's Final Fantasy VIII." She ordered, taking the game off its shelf, which held many games for various consoles.  
  
"Uh, okay…"  
  
Umi passed Hikaru the Playstation's controller as she took the first disc from its case, "You just hold on to this for a minute okay?" She then went over to the PS2 and inserted the disc. She took a seat beside Hikaru as the game started up.  
  
"What do I do now?" Hikaru innocently asked, slightly nervous.  
  
"Just wait till the screen gives you the choice of choosing New Game and Continue." Both girls waited until the screen changed and showed the two options. "Okay, press the X button to confirm that you want to start a new game."  
  
As the intro started up Hikaru's eyes became practically glued to the screen.  
  
"The graphics are pretty good eh?" The introduction was now at the part where Squall and Seifer were dueling.  
  
"I really like the swords," Was all Hikaru said as she continued to watch.  
  
After about thirty minutes of game play and Umi guiding her where to go, she was finally able to get out of Balamb Garden. While she walked around on the world map, Hikaru found herself entering a battle, "Okay Umi what do I do?"  
  
"Well if you want, you can Summon one of your GF's." She quickly showed the little magic knight of fire then waited for Quizicatal to be summoned. In the mean time, Hikaru attacked with Quistis and drew magic from one of the three monsters on the screen.  
  
"Ah!" Hikaru yelled as she suddenly threw the controller away from her and half jumped, half flipped, half fell on the floor.  
  
"What? What's wrong Hikaru?" Umi asked Hikaru who was now sprawled on the floor.  
  
"Th- the controller was shaking!" the girl shakily replied.  
  
"Hikaru, the controller is SUPPOSED TO SHAKE!"  
  
"Oh…" She calmed down a little, as she watched Umi defeat the remaining monsters. She let out a sigh, "You can take on monsters, fight of illusionary things that have bee crappily drawn, fend off Chizeta's disgusting Djin and battle giant mashin-like machines… Sometimes Hikaru, I wonder about you…"  
  
* * *  
  
"Lantis, is it fair to have one person solely responsible for sustaining an entire country?" his elder brother questioned.  
  
"Zagato…" Why are you acting this way?  
  
"I'm tired of seeing her like this; a prisoner to her own country! Isolated from every one and every thing she so dearly loves!" Zagato's face mirrored anger, hate and immense sadness.  
  
"What you're going to do is wrong Zagato, no matter how you try to justify your actions!" Lantis slowly said. Since when was he the voice of reason? Well at the moment, he really didn't have a choice; his brother was wrong. Surely he realized that, no one would benefit from what was to soon happen. If Zagato spirited the princess away, he would be declaring war against the entire country of Cephiro…  
  
So, you would betray me Lantis? Me, your only brother?" Zagato inquired.  
  
"I have no wish to fight with you brother…I don't want to become your enemy, don't make me."  
  
"Then join me, fight with me, not against me," his one arm was extending towards his brother.  
  
Lantis took a step back; his eyes gazed deeply into his brother's, the only person he'd ever felt comfortable about sharing his inner most thoughts with. "Zagato, brother. You know that I cannot do that. I do not believe that the Pillar System is correct, as I've told you many times, but I can not betray this country like that."  
  
"Well aren't you patriotic all of a sudden," Zagato stated.  
  
"It's not that. If I join you, I'll be taking part in the destruction of this land of beauty…" He began as he picked up a single flower and marveled at its simple ness. "With out the princess' prayers, this land will crumble away to nothing. Many innocent lives will be lost."  
  
A light laugh escaped his older brothers lips, "and to think that most people consider you to have a heart of ice…"  
  
"Zagato…"  
  
"So then Lantis, what will you do?" The high priest inquired.  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Well, that's chapter 4. Hope guys enjoyed it. I have something to explain though, most of you probably didn't notice. When Umi and Eagle were talking to General Drako, Umi's name was said as Ryuuzaku as opposed to Ryuuzaki. That's because in the dubbed OVA, that's what her last name is, Ryuuzaku. Now I suppose that I'll have to tell you that that Umi is supposed to be from the OVA universe. I know its probably confusing but as my fic progresses, you'll understand better. Also, I'll be explaining later on how she goes evil later on. But for that, I'm thinking of writing a One-shot side story that focuses solely on her and how she changes. It'll probably be title Fallen Angel Blue, Or Datenshi Blue, which means the same thing, it's just that Datenshi is the Japanese word for Fallen Angel. Which do you think I should call it? 


	5. Adjusting to the New World

Author's Note: No author's note, just cuts right to the story… But wait, THIS is an author's note… damn it! Anyway, hope you enjoy, and remember, always be kind, Rewind… Um… Yeah…  
  
Chapter V: Adjusting to The New World  
  
  
  
'Why… do I keep reliving that part of my past?' Lantis wondered as his heavy eyelids slowly opened while he sat up. His body ached from being immobile for so long. 'How long have I been asleep for?' pulling back the warm blanket that lay over him, he stood up and slowly made his way through the Shidou's hallway and into their backyard where the sounds of a training session appeared to be held. He stood in the kitchen's thresh hold as he watched the many students shouting out in unison as they brought their Shinai downwards, then lifted them over their heads and slashed downwards again at their invisible targets. The eldest Shidou brother stood at the front, instructing his pupils as the two younger brothers circled around the students, observing them and helping the students who were having difficulty executing the sensei's instructions.  
  
"Lantis?!" He turned to see Hikaru running over to him from the other end of the yard, with a wooden sword in her hand and a relieved smile on her face.  
  
His voice seemed caught in his parched throat, but he forced himself to quietly call her name, wearing a smile of his own.  
  
Her speed refused to decrease as she neared him. "Lantis, I'm so happy to see you," She began. She tightly embraced him as he came into arms reach. "I missed you so much…" she said, then released him as he grunted slightly. "Are you all right? Shouldn't you be resting still?" Her voice asked with the outmost concern.  
  
Whipping away a tear that ran down the fire Knight's worried face he reassured her, "I'm fine," his voice was deep and strong yet gentle and loving at the same time. She happily rested her cheek against his hand; he now whipped away a tear of joy. "I missed you too…" Retracting his hand, he gazed down at the bokken in her right hand, "training?" he inquired.  
  
"Yeah," she said as they walked over towards the racks that held training swords currently not in use, "Just finishing up actually… How's your arm? Does it still hurt?" He shrugged and lightly rubbed his sore arm. After putting her sword away, she gestured for him to follow her into the house. "Unfortunately, we can't use magic here on earth… but even if we could, I guess it wouldn't help, being that Fuu's not even in this country right now…" Looking up at him Hikaru noticed a slightly confused expression on his face and decided to briefly elaborate. When she finished her explanation he muttered a soft 'hmmm,' as they stood in the middle of her hallway.  
  
"So… exactly how long have I been sleeping for?" Lantis inquired.  
  
"Just a few days. You woke up a couple of times to pick at the food we left by your bed side, but you seemed pretty out of it. So we decided to just leave you to rest. My brothers and I got a little worried at one point; you were running a pretty high fever, but luckily, it broke."  
  
"So you and your brothers' were watching over me?"  
  
"Yep!" she said with a nod, "It was mostly Satoru nii-sama and I who took care of you; being that Masaru was already busy either studying or working at his part time job, and Kakeru with his apprenticeship, this week was somewhat heck-tic."  
  
"Sorry to be such a burden."  
  
"No! You weren't a burden!" Hikaru protested. "In- In fact," she said quietly; suddenly finding her feet very interesting, "I… kinda liked taking care of you…"  
  
He cupped her chin and had her look up at him. Her heart skipped a beat and her pulse sped slightly under his gentle touch. "Hey, Lantis?" she asked as her gaze fell to his scarred chest, "How'd you get that scar?" her shaky fingers lightly traced its outline.  
  
He moved away from her slightly. "When I was younger; before I was taught magick by Master Mage Clef, I encountered a monster much too strong for me to handle at the time, and far faster than I had anticipated. In an attempt to evade one its attacks, one of the monsters claws slashed my side. This scar on my shoulder," he said gesturing to his scarred shoulder; "was received by that same monster, when it pinned me to the ground… Were it not for my elder brother Zagato, I don't believe that I would have survived…"  
  
"Zagato…" Hikaru began, "you two were very close weren't you?" she asked as she pulled back her hand, turning away from him slightly.  
  
His hand reached out and grasped her retracting one. As if sensing where her thoughts were headed he held her close to him, "the man you killed wasn't my dear brother. But a mad man, a puppet to his own demons…"  
  
"But… he was still your brother, and I- I can't help but sometimes hate myself for what I did." She was slightly shocked to feel Lantis' cool lips lightly press against hers.  
  
"To me, my brother died long before you and the other two Magic Knights appeared in Cephiro." Hikaru's arms wrapped around his waist as he stroked the crown of her hair; he hated seeing her angst over her war with Zagato and wished that if only for a moment he could make that pain completely leave her heart. "As I have told you Hikaru, I neither blame, nor hate you for what happened."  
  
"Lantis…" The deepness of the blush on her face intensified when she heard her stomach growl, completely killing the mood.  
  
"Hungry?" he asked, letting go of her.  
  
The Magic Knight mentally kicked herself, 'smooth Hikaru, real smooth…' she thought, sarcastically. "I- Uh… Yeah, I guess I am," she said, sweat dropping as her hand reached behind her head. "You want something to eat too? I'm not the best cook, but I'm sure I could make something…"  
  
"Not the best is an understatement 'Karu." Kakeru, her brother said. As he appeared at the end of the hallway, making his way down towards the duo.  
  
"Kakeru! Where'd you come from? Shouldn't you be assisting Masaru with his class?" she asked directing her attention at her brother.  
  
"I, a… kind of hit him in the back of the head with my shinai," Kakeru began. "He seemed a little upset, so I thought it best to take my leave…"  
  
"Will he be okay?" his little sister asked.  
  
"Well, he's okay enough to be chasing after me with blinded rage… So I would say yes."  
  
Lantis merely stood there looking questionably at the two siblings.  
  
Kakeru then looked up at Lantis, "hey man. How're yah do'n?" the energetic young man questioned as he playfully slapped Lantis in the arm.  
  
A grunt escaped Lantis' lips as he clutched his arm in pain, "Fine." He answered coldly.  
  
"Kakeru! He's still recovering!" Hikaru scolded.  
  
"Oh, crappers. Gomen nesai. I forgot about your arm… Mr., uh, car…name…guy?" though he couldn't remember for the life of him what the stranger's name was, his apology was in earnest. 'Oh, I feel like a complete idiot.' He thought, 'first I hit the poor guy, and then I go and forget his name. Oi! Yeah, we're getting off to the perfect start. We'll be friends in no time.' Kakeru sarcastically thought.  
  
"His name is Lantis." Hikaru coldly snapped.  
  
'Yikes. Why's Hikaru-chan acting like that? I just forgot his name, well okay, yeah and I slapped in the arm. But still…' "Why is everyone getting mad at me today?"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"Nearly one whole earth week has come to pass, and I'm no closer to finding her then I was when I arrived…" the youthful Sakuya said aloud as he rested his back against the park bench. He pulled out a coin and fiddled with it in his hand. "Finding her will be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack…" Umi had told him that was a common simile used on this planet.  
  
She'd told him that many people inhabited this planet; that many people lived in this 'Tokyo'. But his mind obviously was unable to fully comprehend just how many people there really were until he'd arrived. 'There's just too many damn people in this city!' he thought, frustration poisoning his mind. 'At this rate, I'll be an old man before I find her.' His shoulders slumped as he leaned over and stared at the ground while he dug his feet into the light brown dirt. "It doesn't help any that in this world, magic seems to be unusable and I don't even know what she looks like. I'd have to be at least within ten feet of her in order to sense her presence… Damn it!"  
  
"Hey mister, what's wrong?" a small boy looking to be about the age of four or five, asked him. He wore a pair of blue track pants and an orange, pullover sweater with a 'Pocket Monsters' picture on it.  
  
Sakuya glanced down at the kid who wasn't even half his size, eyes narrowing. "Leave me alone kid. I don't have time to waste on babies." He coldly ordered.  
  
"I'm not a baby!" he defended; his attention suddenly fell onto Sakuya's hair. "Hey, how do you get your hair so spiky? How'd you get that scar on your cheek? Why are you in a bad mood? Did you lose your favorite toy in the sand box? How"-  
  
Before the boy could continue with his onslaught of questions, Sakuya cut him off, "didn't you here me before? I said get lost!" he said as he stood up from his seat on the park's bench, his clenched fists raising in a threatening manor.  
  
The poor lad didn't need to be told a third time. He stumbled back and tripped sending him harshly to the ground on his back. Scrambling quickly to his feet the boy ran as fast as he could to the other side of the path way and hid behind the bushes.  
  
Sakuya breathed a sigh, "Why do I keep coming here? Every time I do, annoying little brats come and start talking to me…" his hands found themselves sliding into the pockets of his recently bought, light blue jeans, as he headed towards his apartment.  
  
Umi had taken care of all his necessities, before he'd even gotten to earth. Or perhaps Eagle? Either way, with the money he had found in his pocket the other day, in the other pocket he found a set of keys, credit cards, and a note- which he knew had been written by Umi, explaining to him that he was Sakuya Tsukyo; a tenth grade high school student whom was living in an apartment complex in downtown Tokyo.  
  
When he'd first entered his apartment, he found an envelope on the kitchen table containing yet another note; which gave further details and explained in depth, what he would need to do while on Earth; aside from hunting down his target that is. For such a sort span of time, he'd been able to adjust rather well to this foreign lifestyle. Complements to Umi, she'd prepared him as best she could for life on Earth, while she trained him in fencing and controlling his magic.  
  
He was brought back to current times as he heard his stomach grumble in hunger. Being that this was a very busy part of the city, he was able to come across a fast food restaurant fairly quickly. A large M was painted on the windowpane, which had the following letters spelling out McDonalds.  
  
After paying for his meal and searching for a vacant table, he sat down and unwrapped the food. 'This is meat…?' Sakuya wondered as he lifted the sesame seed bun off his burger. He stared at it a good few minutes before finally deciding to take a bite. The food itself was okay, however, he realized that he should have requested juice or just plain water. This "soft drink" of his was a tad too sweet for his liking. Further more, the fizz in the beverage created a slight burning sensation in the back of his throat. "I don't like pop." He flatly stated as he popped the remaining French fries in his mouth.  
  
Grabbing a nearby newspaper that had been left on the table across from him, he folded it under his arm and pushed his way through the crowded McDonalds. Once out side, Sakuya unfolded the paper and began reading. There was an article about an electrical anomaly from a few days ago. Some buildings in the downtown Tokyo district had experienced some temporary black outs since the strange occurrence, but other than that, the incident seemed benign. However, no one had any idea as to what had caused it, save for Sakuya that is. He knew that the disturbance had been caused by his crossing over from Cephiro to Earth. It was a mere side effect from tearing open the dimensional barrier, which would most likely fully close within another day or so. As he casually flipped to the next page, he accidentally shouldered someone.  
  
"Hey watch it buddy! Damn punk teens, think they own everything!" The older man yelled; there was a faint smell of liquor around him.  
  
Sakuya stopped and turned around; facing the man, "stupid people, they bug the hell out of he." The young blue haired man stated in monotone.  
  
"What'd you just say?! Now I'm gonna have to teach you some respect by beating the crap out of you!" The stranger had wanted to pick a fight; however, no sooner had the words left his drunken lips, he was forced to cup his face in pain, "My- my nose! You broke my nose!" He called as blood dripped onto the slightly browned, dirty sidewalk.  
  
"It's not broken," Sakuya stated as he retracted his fist.  
  
"What the hell's your damage?" the man questioned as he attempted to tend to his injured face.  
  
"You talk too much." Sakuya declared as he discarded the paper and continued home.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"I… wouldn't know General Drako, sir." The new lieutenant, whom was in charge of training new recruits, replied as he listened to the elder man.  
  
"It's that damn Eagle! He thinks he can just waltz in here one day and do what ever he pleases?!" Drako spat, "and training children to do his dirty work!"  
  
"I don't mean to over step my bounds sir, but in his defense, those 'children' are very strong soldiers. Umi Ryuuzaku possesses very strong magic, as does the young Sakuya, whom also possesses the unique ability to open portals. Granted, his power is inferior to the few 'dimension jumper's', that the Organization has; and his power isn't even strong enough to transport a small battle ship. But eventually, he'll be able to weaken that Planet's natural barriers and we'll be able to invade. At any rate, those two alone are rather formidable opponents and have proven to be useful. That said, it would not be wise for us to go making enemies with Eagle…"  
  
"You are not incorrect," the general began, regaining his composure. "However, I still don't think that the Organization should allow him this much leeway…"  
  
"Do you suspect Master Eagle is doing something that the leaders would frown upon Sir?"  
  
"I'm not sure. It's simply that I don't trust him." The general at this point seemed deep in thought.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"It's nothing Mr. Harris. Dismissed." Drako said as he sat down at his desk to further contemplate.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
'Lantis…' the young red headed girl thought happily. 'It's still kind of hard to believe he's actually here…' she was currently staring blankly out at the beautiful, green leaved trees surrounding the Shidou house through the room's window. She was lying on the cool wooden floor; her hands under her head, with one leg crossed over the other. Oddly enough, this was something she tended to do when she was thinking. Well, this or meditate. Her brothers' found it remotely strange, as did her friends at school.  
  
"Hmmm…" she mumbled as she listened to the gentle breeze outside. 'Pretty soon, it'll be too cold to have the windows open…' she suddenly bolted upright. "Hey, I never got around to asking him how he got here… Guess I'll have to ask Lantis when my brother's aren't around…"  
  
She couldn't imagine what her brothers would think if they ever over heard her talking about going to another world, being a legendary protector of its land and becoming the one who possesses the power to ultimately decide that world's fate… They'd probably think she was nuts or applaud her for having such a creative imagination.  
  
Hikaru closed her eyes. "Cephiro…" she spoke aloud. That world had become a second home to her. Granted the two times she'd been there, she wasn't there for a nice relaxing vacation. Quite the opposite, during Zagato's war, there were monsters constantly attacking, her life as well as her comrades had been put in danger on numerous occasions. The villagers had kept their distance from them and some had even hated them without even knowing whom they were. When Umi, Fuu and herself had returned for a second time, they'd gotten the chance to get to know Cephiro's residents, made friends with them. Despite all the bad, painful memories Hikaru held, it really wasn't all that bad. In fact she had had a lot of fun, and pleasant memories to go along with the heartache and guilt she, even now felt. If it weren't for Cephiro, she would have never become friends with Fuu or Umi and she kind of liked being Cephiro's guardian even if it meant pain. To wield a sword with a purpose to fight had given her life a sense of meaning and fulfillment. It was easy to see that she had a warrior's heart… "It'd be nice to visit the rest of them one day."  
  
"Visit who?" A low, friendly, familiar voice questioned.  
  
She looked up to meet the eyes of the person who stood mere feet away from her.  
  
"Lantis…" she breathed the handsome Mahou Kenshi's name, as she looked him up and down. While he had gone to get a shower, Kakeru and Hikaru went off in search of clean clothing for him to wear. She was very thankful that Masaru had had to go shopping for under wear a few days ago. She doubted that Lantis would not have wanted to wear someone else's under wear, nor did she think any of her brothers would have wanted them back…  
  
Hikaru looked him up and down a second time; resting her eyes on his well shaped bare chest. "Nice…" suddenly realizing that she was practically drooling; she quickly averted her gaze and vainly tried to hide the light blush on her face. "I…I mean you look nice." He wore a brown pair of Kaki pants and held a green sweater in his left hand; both articles were borrowed from Satoru, being that he was the only one nearest to Lantis' clothing size.  
  
He found himself unable to hold back the gentle smile forming on his lips. 'She's such a shy person…' he thought, as he slipped the forest green, turtleneck sweater over his head. The black bangs of his hair clung to the sides of his forehead as the small glistening droplets of water ran down his face. "Who do you wish to visit?" Lantis inquired, covering the distance between them.  
  
"I was just thinking it would be nice to go back to Cephiro and say 'hi' to everyone." Hikaru answered.  
  
"I see."  
  
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. "Excuse me," Hikaru politely said as she headed off to answer the door.  
  
"Hey Hikaru!" Umi enthusiastically said as she stood in the doorway.  
  
The youngest Shidou stood there, a blank expression on her face, until it suddenly dawned on her. "Oh, shoot! We were supposed to go out today weren't we?"  
  
"You mean you forgot? That doesn't sound like you, are you all right, Hikaru? Do you feel sick?" Umi asked with a worried tone in her voice."  
  
"No, I'm not sick, it's just that Lantis"-  
  
"Oh! No wonder you forgot." Hikaru's light blue haired friend said with a sly smile as she nudged the fire knight in her side.  
  
"Stop it," Hikaru whined. When Umi stopped, she moved aside to allow her in.  
  
"Did you find out why he's here?" Umi questioned as she became serious.  
  
Closing the door, Hikaru shook her head, "no. I haven't gotten the chance to ask him yet. I don't really want to be asking him in front of my brothers. For obvious reasons… Hey, is that a bag of sweets I see in your hand?" the red head asked as they headed into the room where Lantis was; at the moment he was looking at a framed photograph of the Shidou family, from when Hikaru was but a small child. When he heard the two girls enter the room, he quickly placed it down on the end table where he'd picked up the face down picture.  
  
"Yeah, they're my special home made pastries."  
  
"Did I hear someone say pastries?" Kakeru called as he dashed into the room, "why Umi, it's so nice to see you! Haven't seen you around lately." He politely said his attention fell onto her bag.  
  
She pulled the bag away from his grasp, "Number one, NO! Number two, I was here just a few weeks ago, and number three, and flattery will get you no pastry."  
  
"Less talking, more giving me food."  
  
"I wont give you a pastry, however, I'd be more than happy to give you a knuckle sandwich," Umi said as she rolled up her sleeve, and held up a fist.  
  
Kakeru's hands flew up in defeat, "No, that's okay. Uh… will you be joining us for lunch." He asked. 'If she say's yes, I'll at least have another shot at getting a pastry.'  
  
"I guess"  
  
"Yes! Uh, I mean, very good. After you," One by one they each headed into the kitchen. Kakeru was about to head in when he spied the up right photo. Glancing at it briefly, he then slammed it face down onto the table and made his way into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey aren't those Satoru's clothes?" Umi questioned as she looked over what Lantis was wearing.  
  
Hikaru swallowed a mouthful of food and answered, "yeah they are. His clothes are in the wash. And his shirt has yet to be mended." That said; she took another bite of the delicious rice ball.  
  
"Yeah, but that's weird…" Kakeru began, directing his attention towards Lantis whom had been really silent. "I mean; you show up unconscious, with only one outfit of clothing, a sword and a cloak. Who are you? What do you do? For all we know, you're a suicidal maniac who wants to steal all our families belongings and go live in a hut"-  
  
He tightly held the back of his head, rubbing the forming bruise that was quickly appearing at the back of his head. "Don't be stupid." Umi ordered, slightly irritated as she retracted her arm.  
  
"Ouw…"  
  
Hikaru giggled and explained to Lantis that Kakeru sometimes let his imagination run wild.  
  
"So what do you do then?" Kakeru asked again.  
  
Hikaru choked on her food. 'Shoot what are we supposed to say? He's a magic swordsman from another world whom was transported here for god only knows why? And I can't lie; I suck at it. Everyone can tell when I lie.'  
  
"Hikaru, you okay?"  
  
"Fine!" she squeaked.  
  
Luckily it was Umi to the rescue. "Oh, Lantis was just telling us that he's a traveling swordsmen whom challenges the shihan of dojo's and that he's come here to the Shidou school of Kendo to hone his skills.  
  
"I have?" Lantis whispered to Umi, who roughly kicked him in his shin.  
  
"Shut up, work with it." Umi whispered back  
  
"Really? Wow! That's so cool. Are you going to challenge Satoru? I bet that would be a wicked match."  
  
"I wasn't planning on it," he replied. Suddenly wishing for everyone's attention to fall on something else.  
  
Sensing this, Hikaru stood up from the table. "Hey Kakeru? Shouldn't Masaru's class be over now?"  
  
"Oh, crap! He's gonna kill me!"  
  
"Why not give him one of Umi's pastries as a peace offering?" Hikaru suggested.  
  
"Great idea!" he said, grabbing two; one for himself, the other for Masaru and ran off but then quickly came back and took another.  
  
"Hey! She said one!" Umi yelled. Looking down at the box containing the remaining pastries she whined, "My pastries!" there was only three left from the original six, then let out a sigh of resignation. "Well I knew that was going to happen one way or another, but I was planning on catching him this time…"  
  
There was a temporary silence as the three looked in the direction Kakeru had gone.  
  
"Okay, here's what we're going to do today!" Umi suddenly beamed.  
  
Both Hikaru and Lantis stared at her blankly; "huh?" seeming to be the only words either were able to say.  
  
"Well originally, Hikaru and I were going to have a picnic at the park." She then suddenly pointed her index finger at Lantis, "but since you're up and walking about, I have a better idea of what we should do today." The blue haired girl explained as a sly smile formed on her face.  
  
"What's that?" Hikaru innocently asked, curious to know what her friend had in mind.  
  
"We're going to take Lantis shopping!"  
  
"Lantis? Shopping?" Hikaru repeated; suddenly envisioning a super deformed version of Lantis being carried around in a shopping basket.  
  
"Shopping?" the kailu said, looking uneasy. 'Oh god no.'  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Oh poor Lantis, having to go shopping… What a horrible fate to befall the magic using warrior… What doth thou think'th so far? 


	6. Informal Intro's

Chapter VI: Informal Intro's  
  
  
  
'What ever did I do to deserve this?' Lantis wondered as he quietly stood by the men's dressing room waiting for Hikaru and that friend of hers' to return. They'd been in this store for over half an hour and so far he'd only tried on one out fit that a male, store clerk had some how forced him to wear. It had been a little too tight for his liking. He didn't care much for the colour either. Usually he wasn't a picky dresser and didn't give a second thought to what he wore, however not even he could stand the sight of this particular set of clothing; Bright, neon green fuzzy pants and a piss coloured yellow shirt that itched around its collar. He'd felt like an ugly flower when he'd put the clothing on-if its possible for a flower to be ugly- but the clerk said he looked good. Which made Lantis feel even more uncomfortable; fore the clerk appeared to be subtly hitting on him. When Umi and Hikaru had found him; Umi took one look and asked, "What the hell are you wearing?" then yelled at the clerk, "Can't you see he's straight?" and continued to harass the clerk while Hikaru looked rather dumbfounded over the whole situation. Her eyes quickly roamed over what he wore and crinkled her nose slightly in distaste; however, she did seem slightly intrigued by the fuzzy pants. Probably wanting to feel the fuzz of the material, he'd assumed. -Though he didn't know her too well he was able to pick up that she had an attraction towards materials with different textures. She, like a child had a very curious nature- He had caught her light blush as she looked away from him while Umi continued to rave at the clerk for even suggesting such horrendous looking outfit. He smirked slightly as he realized why she'd blushed; to feel the material, she was probably envisioning feeling them while he still wore them and he let the thought entertain his mind before he slunk back into the dressing room and changed.  
  
Now the two girls were off somewhere hunting down some other clothes for him to try on, and they had left about ten minutes ago… 'This is a cruel and unusual torture…' he thought as he let out a low sigh. His arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the nearby wall, 'I'd rather be fighting with one hundred monsters and Sakuya. Sakuya… Why does he seem so familiar? Who is he? I thought that only the Pillar possessed the power to draw people from one world to another. So that would mean that only Hikaru has that ability, but I'm not even sure if she can, she was never exposed to the traditional training a Pillar candidate-during usual circumstances must go through-… She abolished the pillar system. Does that not mean that she no longer has the power of Pillar? Or perhaps she has and her power merely has not yet been realized…'  
  
"Hello in there? Anybody home?" A hand was frantically waving back and forth in front of his face. As he looked down, he realized that the hand belonged to that of the Water Magic Knight. Who had her other arm full of clothing.  
  
A walking pile of clothing closely followed behind her. "But… Umi. Even if all of this clothing fits him… there's no way I'd be able to pay you back. I mean, these prices- Whoa!" she yelled as she lost her balance and fell over.  
  
Sighing Umi piled all the articles of clothing she'd collected on Lantis and went over to help Hikaru pick up the clothes now scattered on the floor. "My family's rich Hikaru. What's a few hundred yen to me?"  
  
"A few? My brother's and I don't spend this much money on clothing in a year!"  
  
"Don't worry Hikaru, you'll pay me back, you both will. But not necessarily with money."  
  
"I don't think I like the sound of that," Hikaru replied with an increased sound of worry in her voice.  
  
'I should have stayed in that bed…' Lantis thought as he was being roughly pushed into the dressing room with handfuls of clothing by Umi, "I hate malls…"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
"Oh, this is gonna suck big time." The currently blond haired young man announced mentally as he walked up to the desk clerk.  
  
"Hello sir, may I help you?"  
  
"Uh, yeah. Which planes have been delayed?"  
  
"Let me see…" she said as she began typing on her on her computer's keyboard. "I believe the four thirty flight to Detroit, the three forty- five flight to Vancouver, and the… three fifteen flight to Tokyo Japan will be delayed, due to maintenance checks.  
  
"Great," he said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea how long the Tokyo flight will be delayed for?"  
  
"No. I'm afraid not. Just wait and listen for an announcement."  
  
"Yeah, whatever." He said as he fought through the crowded airport to make his way over to where his friend quietly sat with his luggage.  
  
"Maxwell, what's the what?" his best friend, Thomas asked as he sat down.  
  
A hand combed through his slightly gnarled hair, "they have no idea when my flight's going to come in." Maxwell answered with mild distraught in his voice. "I really wish I wasn't going, Tom."  
  
"Why? I mean this is Japan we're talking about. Think of all the anime you're going to be able to watch that's never been shown here in Canada. Man if I could trade places with you, I'd do it in a second.  
  
"Yeah, but you don't know how to speak Japanese."  
  
"Oh, right…"  
  
"Besides, when I get over there, I won't be able to just sit around watching TV all day. They get way more homework than we do, harder too, and they have extra school after school. Half my time will be spent studying." He pointed out.  
  
"Sounds like your life schedule here; you go to school, when you get home you have extra schooling from your personal tutors, then you have Japanese school on Saturday's-"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I'm going to be stuck there with her…"  
  
"Oh, so that's why you don't want to go. It's not because of the schooling; it's because of a girl. Heh, here's a surprise, you not wanting to be around a girl."  
  
"Shut up man. It's not like that, the last time we spoke, we ended up not on speaking terms and I fear for my life…"  
  
"What'd you do?"  
  
"What makes you think I'm the one who did something?" Thomas merely glared at him.  
  
"I'm sure you'll be able to sweet-talk your way back into her good graces."  
  
"Hope so, otherwise I'll have to learn how to sleep with my eyes open."  
  
"That's the spirit! But if you do happen to die, can I have your comic book collection?"  
  
* * *  
  
"What has you so agitated young prince?" the armour clad, master swordsmen questioned his pacing, green haired prince.  
  
"We should be trying to figure out a way to help Lantis." He stated.  
  
"You shouldn't worry yourself Ferio. There are more pressing matters to attend to."  
  
"You mean my coronation?" Ferio shot back, "that can wait. How can I be a good King if I merely except the fact that one of my country's citizens just up and disappeared?"  
  
"With all do respect your majesty, Lantis is a full grown man. He is more than fit to take care of himself."  
  
"LaFarga," Ferio began as he messaged his temple, "please don't call me by my title. I hate such formalities."  
  
Before LaFarga could reply to that, Ascot jumped in, "I agree with Ferio, LaFarga. Look I know you and Lantis have had your differences but he's still one of us. He might need our help."  
  
"I understand that but as Master Mage Clef has explained to us, any and all portals or gateways have been closed. There is no way to follow Lantis; which means that even if he is in dire need of our assistance, there's nothing we can do." LaFarga sternly explained.  
  
Just then the doors creaked open to reveal the short, lavender hair coloured man supporting himself with his staff. Sweat streamed down his face as he took in deep breaths. "Hey Clef, you okay?" Ferio questioned the mage as he walked towards Clef. "You don't look so good."  
  
"I'll be alright," he answered as he fell into Ferio's arms. "Sorry, I just… Need some rest…"  
  
"LaFarga, help me carry him to his room-"  
  
"No, wait! Mokona and I… we… joined our minds… Lantis… do not worry." He tried to explain as he fell unconscious and went limp as Ferio held him.  
  
"Hey Clef? CLEF!"  
  
* * *  
  
The pale skinned deity of water stood amidst the ice-cold room. Her breath, crystallizing as it escaped her lips. Narrowing her eyebrows, she resumed her training. Her movements were fluent as she gracefully swung the thin custom made blade that Eagle had given her, in the arid room.  
  
"Tell me Umi…" Eagle said as he suddenly appeared behind the water Knight. "Why do you train? You're beyond that of medieval weapons. And why do you chose to make the air around you so deadly cold when you're alone?"  
  
She remained silent, unable to answer his question as the room slowly reverted back to its usual temperature. Umi was about to swing the rapier again when Eagle placed his hands over hers. "Eagle…" she said as he moved in front of her; cradling her head with his one free hand as he leaned his forehead against hers.  
  
"Shhhh…" he whispered, closing his eyes, he opened a telepathic link between them, 'You hardly ever bother to use that sword of yours when in battle…' the hand that had gently cupped her chin, now wrapped around her thin waist. The other loosened its grip on her wrist and ran his thumb over the beautiful ocean blue ovum embedded into her left hand.  
  
"I enjoy fencing." She spoke aloud. For even though her lord and master had taught her the gift of telepathy, she preferred to voice her thoughts. His cool lips lightly brushed over hers and she aloud herself to relax into it.  
  
He pulled away from her slightly and became serious, "You are to assist in capturing the new earth we've just discovered."  
  
"I understand." Umi answered as she was released completely from Eagle's grasp.  
  
"I await your return, my faithful dragon." He stated as he watched her retreating form.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
It appeared as though Lantis would be staying with the Shidou family for a while. He originally had had no intention of imposing but Hikaru and her annoying brother Kakeru insisted. Neither of the other two siblings had any objections and thus was unanimously decided that he would stay with them. However, Hikaru's brother's may not have been so hospitable towards him, had they known of the attraction he felt towards Hikaru.  
  
While in the shopping mall, Umi had explained to him that Hikaru's brothers were incredibly protective of their dear little sister. Apparently when Umi had come over to the Shidou household for the first time, Masaru and Kakeru had bombarded her with a million and one questions: "Do you smoke? Drink? Are you in some sort of gang? Are your grades high? -We don't need someone who doesn't care for their education to be influencing our dear Hikaru-chan- " The three ended up getting into a big fight and for a short while Kakeru and Umi couldn't even be in the same room together with out going after each other's throats.  
  
The Magic Knight of Water had declared to both Hikaru and himself that it would be best that neither of them say anything about their relationship- which Umi had stressed for the two to pretend that they didn't have one- to anyone. Which wasn't all that big a deal for Lantis, considering he had no intention of telling anyone about himself anyway. He just didn't like talking about the past, it was behind him and there was no need to reminisce...  
  
"Hello there." Lantis said calmly to the wolf dog, which had been debating on whether or not it should go over to the new stranger who had been with the Shidou family for the past few days. Though it was a friendly dog, he had sensed something between the man and his master and was unsure of how to act around the stranger. Hikaru was the one whom the dog was most loyal towards and was compelled to protect.  
  
Lantis' eyes softened and beckoned the dog to come closer, "You are very protective towards her as well aren't you?" The dog took the invitation and slowly walked over the friendly man with its head low to the ground. Lantis held out the palm of his hand and allowed the four-legged creature to take in his scent; a scent that was not unfamiliar, he'd smelt this scent very strongly on Hikaru… the dog's tail wagged happily as he licked the man's hand. Lantis moved his hand and gently patted the dog's head then massaged the back of his left ear. "You need not worry, I would never intentionally harm her…"  
  
  
  
"Well, I think Hikari has found a new friend," Masaru said after a few minutes of watching Lantis and the family pet interact with each other on the porch. Across from him were, Umi and his little sister Hikaru whom were studying, as he should have been doing. Though the two girls went to different schools, they would occasionally get together for a study session on the weekend. Since it was already late Satoru had said she was more than welcome to stay over for the night, so long as she didn't mind sleeping in Hikaru's room on a count of the guest room was currently being used by Lantis. After calling her parents who gave the okay, Umi promised she'd make tomorrow's breakfast, which was followed by a gleeful cheer from both Hikaru and Kakeru who then high-fived each other.  
  
His little sister looked up from the table and turned around. None of them could quite tell what Lantis was saying to Hikari, but it was obvious that the two were hitting it off.  
  
Just as Hikaru was about to get up she heard the stern voice of her older brother, "Stay."  
  
"Huh?" she said turning to look at him.  
  
"You have not finished you're homework, so stay at the table," Masaru ordered. He shouldn't have said anything. Though Hikaru was, for the most part a good student and focused on her studies, as her brothers wanted her to, she was easily distracted.  
  
"Just for a minute?"  
  
"No. You can play with Hikari later."  
  
She slumped into her chair as Masaru stood up and closed the paper door that lead outside. A small dog like whimper escaped her lips, followed by "Meanie."  
  
"Finish your homework and I'll convince Satoru to give us all some ice cream."  
  
She brightened at that statement, "Arigatou!"  
  
"Hey! That's bribery!" Kakeru jumped in as he turned his attention away from the dishes he was drying.  
  
"Well, she would have had to finish her homework anyway, but at least with the promise of ice cream she won't be all pouty about it," Umi pointed out, as she briefly looked up from the text she was reading.  
  
Kakeru considered this for a moment, "good point, plus we all get to eat ice cream. I wonder what flavor car name guy would want…?"  
  
"His name is Lantis," Hikaru corrected.  
  
"Does he even like ice cream?" Umi questioned.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Pulling open the door to his apartment, Sakuya found a dark, brown haired, young woman standing in front of him. "What do you want?" he asked gruffly.  
  
"I… Um… I live in the apartment room just down the hall. You're in my Art class aren't you? Well we haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Ogata Haruka." She said smiling brightly.  
  
"That's nice," he said sarcastically, as he went to close the door.  
  
"Wait Tsukyo-san! I brought you a house warning present." Haruka said as she forced herself into the room.  
  
"This isn't a house," he stated in a slightly annoyed tone.  
  
She giggled, "Well, if you want to get technical-have you had dinner yet?" she inquired as she wondered about the room.  
  
"Uh, no."  
  
She opened his fridge door and peeked inside, but frowned when she found only a carton of milk, a bottle of ketchup, some margarine and a half carton of eggs. "Don't tell me this is all you've been eating."  
  
"I go out to eat, for the most part."  
  
"Oh, that's no good. It's important to eat healthy home cooked meals. Lucky for you I just happen to have some leftovers from my supper in this little bag," she explained, holding up the plastic bag. She then set the bag down and pulled out a sealed container. "Do you have a microwave?"  
  
"No I don't," he said as he took the container and set it down on the table.  
  
Chopsticks were abruptly shoved in his face, "go ahead, and try it."  
  
"Uh… okay." He sat down and pulled back the lid.  
  
"It tastes better warmed up but- how do you get your hair all those different shades of blue?"  
  
"My hair's like this naturally. Look," he said, suddenly getting up. He walked over to the door and pulled it open. "I appreciate the food and the gift, but if you don't mind I'd just like to be left alone right now."  
  
Haruka frowned a little, disappointed that she had to leave so soon, but her smile quickly returned. "I understand. I'll come back for the container later, bye," she closed the door behind her as she left.  
  
Sakuya stood there a moment before he walked back towards the table. Glancing at the gift she'd left him, his curiosity got the better of him; unwrapping it he discovered it was a book, the title read, "Welcome to Tokyo". Placing the book down he looked at the food she'd left him and couldn't help but wonder why she'd had a container full of food to give to him. "I wonder…"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"So Lantis has come to Earth Hikaru?" The ever chipper, golden eyed blond haired man asked, as they once again found them selves walking down the long corridor.  
  
"Yeah. He just appeared in front of my house a few days ago," the red haired girl answered. "But he was hurt pretty badly somehow, so he was asleep until just yesterday."  
  
"Is he okay now though?"  
  
"His wounds haven't completely healed yet but I think he'll be okay… Eagle?"  
  
He stopped walking abruptly. Turning to her he asked with concern, "what is it?"  
  
There was a long pause, as she debated whether or not she should ask him the question that she had been wondering ever since he started appearing in her subconscious. "N-Never mind. It's not important," she finally answered. Hikaru then walked over to the solidifying door, she raised her hand up to its knob when a soft maniacal laughter sounded in the distance. "Huh?" Her head bolted up as she strained to hear it more clearly, "Do you- Do you hear that?"  
  
Eagle's features darkened slightly. "No. It's not important either," he coldly stated. She turned to look at him questionably; it wasn't like him to get like this… Knowing that she'd probably picked up on his sudden change in attitude, he quickly reverted back to his up beat self and decided to change the subject, "Why not open the door?"  
  
"Um, okay." Peeking inside the laughter seemed to fade away completely as she found the room, completely vacant save for the gold-chained pendant, which floated in the center of the room. She knew instantly what it was and took a step into the room. Making her way over towards the levitating object, she gently brushed her fingers over the intricate beauty before clasping it and holding it over her heart. She was suddenly filled with an overwhelming feeling of peace and warmth as she thought back fondly to when she'd first received the precious gift from Lantis in that serene Cephirian garden.  
  
"No one's up yet," Eagle announced from the doorway. "Why not go and pay our dear Lantis a visit?"  
  
  
  
Hikaru's head suddenly snapped up. "Was I sleeping just now?" she wondered. About an hour ago hour ago, she'd entered the family's meditation room. She remembered walking in and sitting down but couldn't remember anything after that. Her mind drew up a blank. "I don't think this has ever happened to me before… It's like I was sleeping, but I know I wasn't…" A strange feeling had washed over her and she found herself unable to shake it. Standing up, she stretched her muscles and walked out of the room.  
  
She had had every intention of heading straight to her room to wake Umi up and have her make the breakfast she'd promised when she suddenly felt an unexplainable force guide her outside. Stepping through the kitchen's threshold, she instantly folded her arms around herself as the cool air of early morning attacked her. She rubbed her goose-bumped arms as she walked into the back yard only to find herself stop in front of the public training room where the Shidou brothers taught their kendo classes in the winter time.  
  
The mysterious force seemed to be even stronger now as she moved her shaking hand to pull the door back slightly. Peering into the room she stood there silently as she watched the tall figure's slow movements. It was Lantis; Hikaru had known it was him before she'd even looked in through the doorway. His movements were so elegant, so slow, and so precise… Never had she witnesses anyone practice tai chi so skillfully before…  
  
He stopped suddenly to Hikaru's dismay and stood upright. Lantis turned and looked right at her; he'd sensed her presence too.  
  
"Oh, G-Gomen nesai," she stuttered. "That I disturbed you. I'll leave you be-"  
  
"That's alright. This is your home you can do as you please. I don't mind the company…" said as he closed the distance between them. Holding out his hand to her he bowed slightly, "besides, it is I who should apologize for coming in here without notifying anyone."  
  
She shook her head, "You're a guest in this household. Furthermore, you're going to be living here for at least a little while, so please treat this home as though it was your own." She then took his hand gratefully. He kissed her backhand and led her into the room.  
  
There was a moment's pause before he spoke again, "was there something you wished to ask me?" he said as he bent down and picked up his new long- sleeved dress shirt.  
  
"As a matter of fact," Hikaru replied as she watched him slide his masculine arms into the black shirt, "I was sort of wondering how it was possible for you to come to Earth. It's not that I don't want you here, it's just that I thought only a Pillar could…"  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"You mean you don't even know how you got here Lantis?" He then placed a hand on her forehead. "Huh?"  
  
"Shhh… just relax. I won't hurt you." As she did so, images flashed through her mind and she knew what had happened to him while back in Cephiro. Slowly he removed his hand from where it had temporarily rested on her head. She stood there blankly for a moment allowing the serge of information to seep in. She blinked a few times, "wow… How'd you do that?" she asked, still slightly dazed.  
  
"I temporarily linked our minds. I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to be able to do it or, but it would seem as though the later is not the case. As you said, magic can't be used here, or perhaps it simply cannot be controlled… At any rate I can at least do simple tricks… I thought it would be easier this way than trying explain what I am not entirely certain about myself."  
  
"Oh…" She then blushed slightly when she realized that his hand now softly gripped her arm, with his other hand, he cupped her chin and tilted her head upwards to look at him.  
  
"By the way, I like your hair." He stated as he fiddled with a tendril of red hair. It had been taken out of her usual braid and was left down, save for the two small braids at the opposing sides of her head, which tied together at the back.  
  
"I, Um…" she began. The fire Knight held a few locks a looking at them briefly before pulling them back behind her ear. Flattered that he'd actually noticed the simple change and that he approved it. "Umi did this last night, before we went to bed. She was board and couldn't fall asleep, so she took my braid out and played around with it for a while, before deciding to just leave it down like this." He gently combed the lock of hair behind her ear as she continued, "Speaking of Umi, I should probably go and wake her up, so she can make breakfast…"  
  
"You probably should," Lantis agreed, however neither made any indication of leaving.  
  
The tingles Hikaru had been feeling inside her intensified as he bent down towards her. It felt like they were picking up where they'd left off two years ago when he'd said he loved her back and it was as if the day was only a few moments ago; as if they had never been forced away from each other. This felt right. Just like it had felt right after Debonair's defeat…  
  
His cool lips lightly brushed over hers, just as he'd done yesterday when he had attempted to comfort her.  
  
Timidly, the young Knight of fire pressed her lips against his as he went to pull away. Silently pleading Lantis to stay close to her.  
  
His free arm found itself bracing her lower back and pulling her upwards as he continued to kiss her; it was innocent and tender at first. However, as the tempo increased so too did the kiss' intensity; their tongues danced and explored each other's mouths. The suppressed feelings that had pent up inside them came raging out like an uncontrollable fire.  
  
Lantis found himself leaning up against one of the room's beams, as Hikaru's legs were now wrapping around his mid section. Both of his hands tightly held her waist and back in an attempt to support the awkward position she was now in.  
  
A lack of oxygen intake forced the two to separate from their lip lock. Their eyes remained closed as their foreheads pressed against each other's. Breaths were no longer calm; they were short and uneven.  
  
His grip on the small Japanese woman loosened as she carefully climbed off of him. Her whole body trembled at the after shock of their first real kiss. The brief experience both excited and scared her; she had been caught off guard, and wrapped up in the moment. And it was only after realizing that her shirt of her gi was loosening that she became conscious of just how out of hand the simple kiss had become.  
  
With shaky hands, Hikaru quickly covered herself up and backed away slightly, refusing to look him in the eye as she did so.  
  
"Hikaru?" He questioned in a worried tone. 'Have I done something to upset her…' he wondered.  
  
"G-Gomen ne…" she stuttered. "Demo, I really should go and wake Umi," she quickly turned to leave and ended up banging her shoulder against the door's way. She suddenly turned around about to say something but the words seemed unable to form so she just smiled shyly and waved before heading off into the house.  
  
Lantis couldn't help but grin at the Knight's clumsy retreating form. Seeing her in such a carefree and happy mood brought him an unexplainable joy. When she'd come to his world, Cephiro for the second time, she'd been so sad, so unhappy. He knew her smiles and cheerfulness had been forced back then. She'd suppressed to the best of her ability, how she'd truly felt towards the entire ordeal for the sake of her friends and comerades. The negative energies that once radiated off her were not becoming. And he was glad to see that her smiles were now genuine.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
"Really Hikaru, you didn't have to walk me home." Umi said to the energetic red haired girl beside her.  
  
"I had to take Hikari for a walk anyway, so why not walk you home?" she countered with a dumb grin on her face.  
  
"Well Miss perky, don't you usually take Hikari to the park? And what's with the goofy smile?" She had stayed up late last night and was then forced to get up early this morning by Hikaru. She had no idea how Hikaru was able to do that; be so chipper in the morning… Unlike the red head, Umi wasn't that big of a morning person and it unnerved her ever so slightly to be bombarded with such an upbeat and positive force so early into the morning when she was generally negative. It was simple mathematics, multiply a negative with a positive, you get more negative. Which is usually what she was like until she downed a coffee or had a nice cold shower and completely woke up. Unfortunately for her she didn't get the chance to tale a shower and the Shidou's didn't keep coffee in the house, they didn't like it so they never bought any…  
  
"To answer your first question, yes. I do usually take Hikari to the park. So I'll take him there after wards. And to answer your second question grumpy pants… uh, there's nothing to the smile." Her grin only grew wider and a light blush could easily be seen on her cheeks.  
  
"You're blushing."  
  
"Uh, no I'm not. It's just the cool air."  
  
  
  
When they arrived outside the gates to the Ryuuzaki household, Hikaru motioned for Hikari to sit and wait at the gate until she returned. The dog sat obediently and the two girls strolled up the walkway, continuing with their conversation.  
  
"I guess the weather is a little colder than it usually is this time of year," Umi finally agreed. "But frankly I haven't really noticed any change in temperature."  
  
"I've noticed," Hikaru stated as she hugged herself in a fruitless attempt to warm up. 'Shoot. I should have taken my sweater…' She hadn't felt chilled before, while walking with Umi. But then again, they had been walking at a faster pace and they were goofing around. Now that they'd slowed their pace, she was able to feel the cold.  
  
As if reading her mind, Umi spoke, "if you wait a minute," she began. She fiddled with her key ring as the two stood on her stoop. "I'll lend you a warm sweater."  
  
"Great"  
  
Sliding her key into the lock, Umi turned it and pushed into her house. She gestured for Hikaru to come in out of the supposed "cold".  
  
"Uhh, Umi…?" Hikaru questioned as she pointed into the direction of the Ryuuzaki's living room.  
  
"Huh?" Following Hikaru's gaze she discovered a golden blond haired man lounging on her sofa. "What the- Who the hell are you?"  
  
The young man turned to look at her, the expression on his face told Umi that he recognized her instantly. 'Crap! No way. It can't be…'  
  
"Aw, come on. Don't tell me you don't remember who I am," he said with an arrogant grin. "It's only been about ten years…"  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: So what does every body think? I wanted to do a little more with the whole Lantis shopping bit, but couldn't fit it in… I wasn't quite sure what you'd call the outfit that Hikaru and Satoru wear when they're training; it sorta looks like a kimono but I don't think that's what it's called. Nor do I think it's a gi, but I wasn't sure what to call it and that sounded better than training shirt so… I should probably clarify for anyone not sure, the Umi/Eagle implications are between the evil Umi and evil Eagle. I sorta borrowed them from the OVA series. If you haven't seen the OVA's don't worry, I'll do my best not to spoil anything for you. And there probably won't be that much reference to the OVA. I'm just sorta using some of the characters from that timeline. I know that a few of you are confused about a few things and I'm trying to write this fic so that at one point everything will just click and the readers will be like: "…Oh. Now I get it," or something of that nature. I'm debating a prelude, when I get around to making it. You probably wont understand what it has to do with my fic, but it will in the grand scheme of things. I think the OVA Umi one-shot thing that I was talking about before will be called Datenshi Blue. However, I'm not writing it until I see the last OVA. I've already worked out a, what would be a cover if Datenshi Blue was going to be a doujinshi. So it's all good… any way, I hope to update quicker than this one and hope to receive some more reviews whether they be questions, comments, criticisms or Flames. As always, R&R and I hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter. 


	7. Chapter VI Part II

Chapter VI: Part II  
  
"How's he doing? Will he be all right?" the young prince asked as the female Autozam doctor stepped out of the Master Mages bedroom and into the hall. She wore a long white coat, medical equipment threatened to fall from her deep pockets as she moved about. Her eyes were emerald coloured and her hair, a dark caramel brown, which flowed down her back. She reminded Ferio slightly of his beloved Fuu… Since the signing of the peace treaty between Cephiro and Autozam, a few of their citizens had come to the magical land. By chance, the young doctor who had only just recently come to Cephiro, decided to take up residence in a nearby town not all that far from the castle and so Ferio had Ascot summon one of his creatures so that they could go ask the doctor for help. She in turn was overjoyed at the prospect of being able to actually enter the crystal palace and was even more thrilled to be asked to examine one of the currently, most oldest Cephirian's alive.  
  
"Well prince Ferio," she began as she typed something into the small computer-like band wrapped around her arm. "Mr. Clef appears to be completely fine. His mental energy has dropped down surprisingly though."  
  
"Is that bad?" Ascot inquired.  
  
She smiled gently. "Only if he doesn't rest. You said that he was using a lot of energy earlier right? Well in my experience, the patient is usually just suffering from exhaustion. Now, so long as he drinks plenty of fluids, and restrains his activities, he should be back to normal within a few days- probably. I've never treated a magic user before, so I'm not exactly sure if he'll be fine in just a few days. It may take a little longer than that for him to recuperate. But if he gets worse then, well, you know where I am. If you'll excuse me, I really must get back…"  
  
"Thanks." Ferio said, then directed his attention towards Ascot, "hey Ascot? Would you mind giving the lovely lady a ride back to her house?"  
  
"Uh, I guess not. Sure. Follow me Ms. –er I mean doctor." He said as he motioned her to follow him.  
  
"Great! I wanted to ask you about that flying beast from before; I noticed that its coat of fur was fairly shinny. It looked rather healthy, what kind of foods do you feed it?" she questioned as the two headed off down the hallway.  
  
"LaFarga?" Ferio began, looking up at him.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Can ya just check on Clef every so often? I would but I've got…" he closed his eyes and sighed. "Prince duties to attend to." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Right now I have to go and attend a meeting with the stupid council… But at any rate, if Clef's condition worsens, I want you to inform me right away. Regardless of whether I'm still in the meeting or not okay?"  
  
LaFarga bowed slightly, "Understood."  
  
Lafarga watched as the heir to the Cephirian throne hastily speed down the hallway in a rather improper fashion. His prince had atrocious manors, was quick to make decisions without thinking things over and continuously found one reason or another as to why he could not be crowned "King" and constantly took off on his own without notifying anyone. However, despite all of that was a very compassionate and fair ruler and he'd easily won the hearts of the residents of Cephiro. He put the well being of his people above himself and showed promise as a great king. In some ways, he was much like his dear elder sister Princess Emeraude, and his carefree attitude made it hard for even the most uptight of people to get bogged down with political matters…  
  
The Captain of the Guard let out a sigh and took a step back as the heavy doors to Clef's room slowly opened. Taking the invitation he headed into the large room and kneeled at the elder man's side. "Master Mage…"  
  
"Lantis is on Earth, safe for the time being… But I am not sure if having him stay in the other world is such a good idea at this time…" the mage said as he slowly sat up in his bed.  
  
Confusion was etched across the Sword Master's face. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I'd really rather not say… I feel an ill omen approaching. I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything other than that…" he coughed and shook violently, and Lafarga instantly stood up and helped Clef lye down again.  
  
"Master Mage Clef, please relax. You must rest and regain your strength…" Lafarga urged but Clef seemed to disregard what he said.  
  
"Lantis must return…" Clef said. He wasn't even exactly sure himself why he so desperately desired the mahou kenshi to return. But something in the pit of his stomach demanded it to be so.  
  
"But there is no way for him to-"  
  
"Not necessarily…Lafarga, I wish to send you on an errand. One which for the moment, I'd prefer that you not make mention of to anyone." He stated as Lafarga listened intently. He sat up slightly and grabbed his staff; he swung it horizontally in the air and a world map of Cephiro appeared. "There is a scroll that I would like you to retrieve for me. It lies with in one of the far northwestern villages. To which village, I am not precisely sure. However, the scroll will be hidden with in one of the village elder's hut. Come later and I will give you a seal that you will present to the elder-" he broke into a set of violent coughs, his staff clattering to the ground in the process.  
  
The sword master waited patiently until the coughs subsided, "If you do not mind my asking, what significance is this scroll?"  
  
The older man smiled, "it may give reference as to how to cross over into another world. I would like you to leave as soon as possible."  
  
LaFarga stood shocked. Had he herd right? "That- But that is not possible. I thought-"  
  
"That only the Pillar could grant passage from one world to another? Yes. I too thought that. For the longest of time actually, I had never given much thought about it until the day Lantis left us and wound up in the magic knight's dimension… When Mokona told us of the one who had created a portal…" Clef closed his eyes and organized his thoughts. The sedatives the doctor had administered to him, to help him rest were starting to kick in.  
  
"What makes you think we can travel from one world to another?" LaFarga questioned, his curiosity was beginning to grow.  
  
"Something our young prince said. How was it possible for the young man Sakuya to generate a portal? I've been doing some research and I may have a lead however, this particular book is in old Cephirian and I am having a hard time understanding it. The scroll should be able to help me translate the passages in the book…" He yawned and relaxed in his bed.  
  
"I understand, but why must this information be kept in secret from even the prince?"  
  
"If Ferio were to discover that there was a remote chance to bring Lantis back, he would do everything within his power to do so, but if it proves that we can not do this, I do not want to get his highness' hopes up-As soon as possible, I want you to retrieve for me the old scroll..." with that the Mage reluctantly nodded off.  
  
"A way to another world…"  
  
Authors notes: Hey, wow did it take me a while to update or what? I've decided to make this a short second part to chapter six because originally when I wrote up chapter six and seven, I didn't elaborate on the whole Clef passing out thing. So I sort of tried to do that will this second part of the chapter. And it was short and didn't want to try to fit it into Chapter six or seven so I put it here. There may be a third part to the chapter but probably not unless I remember what I wanted to write. I'd like people to know that there is more to this fic than it seems and that will become apparent later on… 


	8. Chapter VI Part III

Masaru had dashed off to work, and Hikaru had gone off to take Hikari for his daily walk. The little Shidou sister was also walking Umi home, so she'd probably take a longer time to get beck than usual. Which left only Kakeru to assist Satoru in the class he was currently teaching. It was the "kiddy class" so both brothers would need to pay close attention to them. Of all the classes taught, teaching young children the basics of kendo was the most difficult. The children tended to get easily distracted, and often flailed their training swords around with out thinking about the consequences. They were loud and very rude at times yet despite all of that, each and every one of them was ready and eager to be taught and loved their senseis.  
  
Today they were all to spar. In pairs of two they would come up at a time and fight against each other.  
  
"Yamato and Hiroshi." Satoru called out and the two boys stood up and headed over to him.  
  
Yamato was six years old and had short mahogany coloured hair; his bangs hung over his light brown eyes in small locks, which would normally be easy to see except now he was decked in the necessary protective gear. He was a quiet little boy, who tended to shy away from crowds of people. His family was close friends with the Shidou family…  
  
Hiroshi was much more out going than him. The center of attention, all the children looked up to him and cheered him as he walked up to Satoru. His eyes and hair were both jet black and came up to about the same height as Yamato. One of the better skilled students, he was expected to beat Yamato hands down.  
  
Both boys bowed to their sensei then to each other, the class cheered at the sidelines and Kakeru quickly quieted them down as the match began.  
  
  
  
Tears streamed down the brown haired boys face as he sat sobbing underneath one of the shady old trees. He looked up to see the match corresponding after the one he'd had with Hiroshi was well underway. Satoru called out a point as one of the attacks connected to the chest plate of children currently sparring.  
  
"Big boys don't cry." Yamato told himself as he whipped the falling tears away only to have more take their place. It was weak to cry and he hated himself for not being able to restrain himself.  
  
"So then why are you crying?" A deep voice unfamiliar to the young boy questioned.  
  
The boy looked up to find a dark haired man lounging peacefully on one of the trees strong limbs. "W-who are you?"  
  
The figure dropped down from where he'd been above and landed gracefully beside him. The boy took a step back, startled slightly. "I am a man familiar with sword play." He said simply.  
  
The boy looked at him strangely for a moment, "I'm Yamato." The man smiled and Yamato whipped his eyes again he liked this man he decided. He seemed nice.  
  
"Why are you crying?" the man asked gently.  
  
"I lost…"  
  
"Everyone loses sometimes."  
  
"But I always lose! I don't want to lose anymore! I want to win. I want to be strong and compete in tournaments when I get older just like my daddy!" the young boy exclaimed. There was a sudden flame in his eyes, which quickly faded. "but… I'm not good enough…"  
  
"You're too gentle. And you hesitate to attack when you see an opening." The man said as he patted the boy's head and stood up.  
  
"Hey, Mister? Where are you going?" Yamato called out as he watched the figure walk off over to the rack of shinai and take two of them and head back.  
  
He crouched and held one of the shinai's out for the little boy.  
  
  
  
"Kakeru sensei?" A childlike voice called out and Kakeru looked down to see one of the boys tugging at his clothing as the boy desperately tried to get his attention.  
  
"Huh?" Was all Kakeru said in response.  
  
"Whose that man with Yamato-kun?"  
  
Kakeru looked around then decided to follow the direction in which a few of the other boys were looking. There he saw Lantis standing by the young boy giving him instructions, and demonstrating appropriate ways to use the shinai. "Lantis…"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Kakeru looked down at the boy. "Oh, he's a new friend who's going to be staying here for a while." He began as he watched the two and Kakeru was surprised to see that Yamato seemed to have improved. Though only slightly and it was barely even noticeable, but the boy-even from the distance apart that they were-seemed more confident… "Satoru." Kakeru whispered, as he kept his gaze on the two in the not too far off distance.  
  
"What is it," Satoru asked after calling out another point. His attention had been focused on the two young boys sparring, just where his attention was supposed to be, and still was.  
  
"Take a look see, it would seem as though the mysterious stranger is assisting you as well." Kakeru said almost absently.  
  
Satoru's focus fell away from the two boys, his left eyebrow rose slightly, "Wha…" he found Kakeru pointing his index finger at something. Satoru's eyes followed to discover Lantis with the young Yamato.  
  
The man straightened the boy's shinai into the appropriate position, said something to him then crouched down on the ground. He picked up a twig and drew what appeared to Satoru, to be a line. He uttered something and the boy motioned to attack Lantis. Almost effortlessly the man countered it. He said something and the boy went to strike again and again.  
  
By now the whole class was watching the scene unfold. And it was only now that it dawned on Kakeru, "hey, they should be wearing-" he motioned to head over to Lantis when Satoru's hand firmly clamped down on his shoulder. "Satoru…?"  
  
"Let them be." He said as he looked on.  
  
"But if Lansit accidentally injures Yamato-" he was cut off again buy his elder brother.  
  
"Kakeru," Satoru sighed. "His name is Lantis. Try to remember- and besides, he won't hurt Yamato. Can't you tell? He's in full control of the situation." He stated; his eyes were transfixed on the scene. 'He's a very interesting person indeed…' Satoru thought. 'He's good. Better than I thought.' He slowly headed over to the two. And Kakeru followed after him. 'I thought he was merely relaxing up in that tree. But it seems as though he was watching the match between Hiroshi and Yamato and picked up on Yamato's hesitance to strike Hiroshi…' Satoru was originally going to have a brief talk about it with the young boy but it now seemed as though he might not need to now. It appeared as though the Shidou's guest had addressed it with the boy already.  
  
"Woa!" Yamato cried out as he stumbled back and fell.  
  
Lantis crouched down at eye level. "That's enough now," he said gently and a small bird suddenly perched on his shoulder. He held up his fingers for the bird to fly onto and the feathered creature took up the invitation. It chirped happily and the slight disappointed look on Yamato's face instantly faded away and was replaced with a smile.  
  
"Class is almost over now Yamato." Satoru said as he approached from behind the boy.  
  
"Satoru sensei… Kakeru sensei…" the boy stuttered.  
  
"Why not go with my younger brother and tell the class that they have free time until it's time for them to go?" He asked kindly.  
  
The boy nodded and ran a few steps then turned around, "Thank you for helping me…" Unsure of what to call him, the boy simply added, "Satoru sensei number two."  
  
"Hey, I like that." Kakeru interjected. As he walked over to where Yamato stood. "He's a lot like Satoru. From now on Lance, I'm calling you Satoru number two." He called before heading over to where the other boys were with Yamato.  
  
"Satoru number two?" Lantis repeated.  
  
"Kakeru is horrible with names. Allow me to apologize on his behalf." Satoru said as he stood beside the black haired man and the bird flew from Lantis' finger onto his shoulder.  
  
"I think I'd rather have him just call me Lance…"  
  
Satoru smiled at that. "I think I would rather have him call you that as well. He probably will, when he gets tired of constantly calling you "Satoru number two"." He looked over to the other man to see him simply cross his arms.  
  
"Well it's better than "Car name guy" and then him slapping me in my wounded arm," he stated as he rubbed the healing wound through his dress shirt. "May I assume that you are still standing here because you wished to speak with me?"  
  
"Would you care to assist me while I'm instructing kendo classes?" he said cutting right to the point.  
  
Lantis contemplated it for a moment. He would be staying in the Shidou household for at least a little while so he felt it necessary to do something other than simply lounge around all day. It would give him something to do at any rate. He smiled slightly, "Sure, why not?"  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: well uh part two and three of chapter six are supposed to be happening more less at the exact same time and around the same time as the last part of chapter six. If you think Lantis was a little too open let me know. I just think he'd open up to Satoru fairly easily. Also with children, I think you see more of his kind side that's why I made him help Yamato. Comments, questions and criticisms are all welcome. And I'll hopefully have chapter seven up shortly. Hope you'll all have a good Easter weekend. ^_^ 


	9. Fiancee? Nani!

Chapter: VII  
  
Fiancée? Nani?  
  
  
  
"You jerk!" Umi shouted across the room. No doubt about it now, she knew exactly who he was.  
  
"I guess you do remember me after all," the stranger replied brightly. Umi merely stood silently; sending him death glares. "But now I'm suddenly wishing you didn't."  
  
"Uh, Umi? What's going on? You know this guy?" Hikaru innocently questioned. She had no idea what was going on. It seemed as though they both knew each other but…  
  
"We're old friends," the blond butted in.  
  
"You…" there was rage in her low voice and Hikaru took a step back as Umi took a step forward towards him and pointed her index finger at him. "You killed my hair!" she bellowed.  
  
It was then that her parents decided to make their presence known. "Oh, hello Hikaru, what a pleasant surprise! It's so nice to see you with your hair down for a change!" Umi's mother beamed, as her father merely stood their flipping through his morning paper.  
  
"Uh, good morning Mrs. Ryuuzaki."  
  
"Mother, what is he doing here?"  
  
"It's not nice to point at people dear," was all she said, as Umi feel over in a very anime-like style.  
  
"Didn't we tell you Umi?" her father asked as he glanced over one of the sports articles. "Your mother and I made arrangements with the Claytons for their son to stay with us for a while."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, dear. We must have forgotten to tell her…"  
  
This time both Umi and the blond haired boy feel over while Hikaru simply sweat dropped.  
  
Umi's mother took a moment and thought that over, "No wait, I remember now. We decided to not tell her so that it would be a surprise. Well Umi, are you surprised?"  
  
The sixteen year olds eye brows twitched as she took in a deep breath. "Oh, I'm surprised alright…" she glanced over at Hikaru, who was at the moment looking over to see if Hikari was okay. 'Crap! Stupid jerk, he almost made me forget about the  
  
Sweater…' without saying anything, she sent another death glare towards the blond haired man and dashed off upstairs.  
  
"Jeez. It's been ten years; you'd think she'd get over it…" the golden blond said to no one in particular.  
  
"Huh? Get over what?" Hikaru asked sheepishly.  
  
"Oh, uh… About ten years ago, right before I moved away, I kind of, accidentally…" His hand came up and scratched the back of his head as he slowly continued. "Well let's just say there was an incident involving Umi's hair that I'd really rather not elaborate on…" he laughed lightly and Hikaru just stood there. "Oh, but you must forgive my rudeness, I haven't properly introduced myself yet have I, Red?" he said as he took her hand in his.  
  
She took a step backwards; "R-Red?" was all she seemed to be able to say.  
  
"I'm Maxwell Clayton," he suddenly combed his fingers briefly through his hair, pulling back the bangs that shagged in his eyes. "Or rather, Clayton Maxwell, seventeen years old eleventh grade," he said as he lightly kissed her backhand. "And it's a pleasure to meet someone as beautiful as you."  
  
"I-Uh…" Hikaru was taken a back slightly. 'Is he… hitting on me?'  
  
"He's Umi's fiancée." Mrs. Ryuuzaki stated as she playfully tugged at her husband's sleeve. Hikaru stood their wide-eyed in shock as her heard the sound of a kettle boiling in the background, "Come along dear." She said as she dragged her husband into the kitchen.  
  
It was only after the duo left the room and when Hikaru heard the light pound of foots steps racing down the nearby stairs that the words fully sank in. "You're Umi's WHAT!!!!?"  
  
The blue haired girl quickly whipped down the stairs at the sound of the glass shattering, yell that emanated from her friend. As she reached the bottom step, she saw Maxwell just releasing his clutched ears.  
  
"Ow, that hurt…" he said laughing it off. He then gave Hikaru a dashing smile. "Y'know, you're really cute when you're caught off guard."  
  
"Huh?" she lightly asked, being, or was it acting? As though she was clueless to the fact that he was hitting on her.  
  
Umi then tackled him and put him in a chokehold. His arms flailed and he cried out in surprise. "Heh, and you're an idiot when you're caught off guard. But then again that's you all the time."  
  
"Umi-chan… I can't breathe…" He cried out. As his knees buckled and gave way.  
  
"Umi-san!" she corrected him as she pinned him to the ground.  
  
"Y-you!" Umi's head darted up to find Hikaru's index finger pointing at her, then moved and was directed at the teen under her. "He…? Flanagan Joe?"  
  
"Can we try that again in an actual language?" Umi huffed, as Maxwell pounded the floor with his fist vainly attempting to breathe.  
  
"You two are getting married?!" Hikaru shouted as she forced her words to make sense.  
  
Umi looked down at him and instantly got off him, standing up right. "No way! Not in a million years!"  
  
"I can breathe again," Maxwell said, overjoyed. He still lye on the floor gaping for air but he was happy non the less.  
  
"I wouldn't marry this "jerk" if he was the last guy on the planet!" Umi continued.  
  
"Jerk?" The blond young man asked, then placed a hand over his heart, "That hurts."  
  
"But your mom said you two are each other's fiancée," Hikaru pointed out.  
  
"We're not!" Maxwell shouted, "I mean, not really. Well, uh… We're sort of more like each other's intended."  
  
"Intended?"  
  
"It's kinda complicated," he stated.  
  
"No, it's just really weird." Umi interjected.  
  
"Well it was your parents who came up with this arrangement!"  
  
"When our parents' first spoke about it, I seem to remember yours were rather thrilled at the prospect of you eventually marrying me!" She said as she turned her face to the side and stood arrogantly with her eyes shut, a light smirk on her face.  
  
"Boy were my folks ever wrong on that call!"  
  
Her eyes shot open and she faced him, "What-Just what are you implying there?" Both of them sent unhappy glares at each other, when Hikaru made a dumb attempt at relieving some of the tension.  
  
"Well, you know what they say, opposites attract right?" she nervously said as she desperately tried to neutralize the negative atmosphere with her positive, perky self.  
  
Both teens suddenly turned on her and yelled in unison, "DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THIS!"  
  
'Mental note: from now on, don't go near Umi until she's had her morning coffee…'  
  
"Would anyone care for a nice, hot cup of coffee?" Umi's mother called from the kitchen.  
  
The death glares turned into big, happy smiles, "Coffee!" they both yelled and dashed off as though they were two small children who had been told they were going off to the candy store.  
  
"And Umi says I'm childish…" The red headed girl announced as she smirked and headed into the kitchen as well. "Hey, Umi? Sorry I can't hang out but I really need to get going…"  
  
"Oh, so I guess you're wanting this," the water knight stated after sipping the hot drink. She went to hand her the fuzzy, purple, hooded sweater when a thought occurred to her and just as Hikaru was about to take it, she pulled it back, out of the other girl's grasp. "It's pretty chilly…" A sly grin crept up the side of her face. "Why not warm yourself up with a nice hot cup of coffee before you go?"  
  
"Coffee? Oh, no that's okay." Hikaru had a bad feeling about where Umi was going with this.  
  
"I insist. After all, it's the least you can do after I went out and bought all those nice sets of clothing for your… Ahem, friend."  
  
Hikaru winced slightly; she knew that was coming. She then sighed in defeat and poured herself a cup of the steaming dark coffee. She reached for the sugar container only to have Umi yank it away from her; the red head glanced over at the cream only to have that pulled back out of her grasp as well. "Umi!" Hikaru whined then made a pouty face.  
  
"Alright, Alright, I suppose it would be really cruel of me to make you drink it like that." Umi was sure to pick up one grain and only one grain of sugar and let it fall into the dark beverage, and then poured but one droplet of cream in as well, stirred it and handed it to Hikaru. "Drink up, and remember, you have to drink the whole thing."  
  
"Okay…" the fire knight agreed hesitantly. The cup was brought up to her lips and she looked up, "you do realize that my debt to you will greatly diminish."  
  
"Fine, fine," she said as she went and sat down at the table, she leaned in and watched intently as Hikaru slowly brought the mug closer and closer to her mouth.  
  
The moment of truth: The young girl's eyes widened after quickly downing a large portion of the drink. Instantly she slammed the mug onto the table and it was a wonder it didn't break. She leaned over as her nose wrinkled, "glagh…" she said, and her eyes were wincing. "Blech!" her head shook back and forth, her tongue rolled in her mouth hoping that the horrid taste would just magically go away. Her arms flailed as she danced around in an unhappy state while Umi was using all her power to stop herself from bursting out into laughter.  
  
The blue haired girl couldn't take it anymore. The look on her poor friends face was hysterical. Hikaru never was a coffee fan… She clutched her sides and slunk off her chair onto the floor. "Hi-Karu…" she said between laughs, "the look on your face is just too damn funny!" even the "jerk" and her parents were laughing slightly.  
  
Maxwell held out his hand to help Umi up, "I take it your friend doesn't like coffee much…" he chuckled.  
  
"Hell no! Hey, wait a sec! I'm still mad at you, you Jerk!" she said pushing him away.  
  
"Aren't those two just adorable dear?" Mrs. Ryuuzaki asked her husband.  
  
"Oka-san!"  
  
"Uh, Umi-" Maxwell began but was interrupted by his "fiancée".  
  
"That's Umi-SAN to you!" she shouted.  
  
He ignored her and pointed, "Uh, your friend is…" he pointed towards Hikaru and as she followed his finger, she found Hikaru madly pouring the sugar container into her mug.  
  
"Hikaru! Honestly, you can't be left alone for even two minutes! Now give me that, that's way too much sugar!" she grabbed to container and both struggled to take the sugar away from each other. "Come on! Give it up!" Hikaru pulled back, sugar sprayed all over the place as the two continued to fight.  
  
"I just want a little…" the red head roughly yanked it again, they both lost their balance and fell to the floor but continued to wrestle over it.  
  
Umi's mother laughed as she watched the two fight over the now empty container. "Really, you'd think they were fighting over a bar of gold…"  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: Hey, what's up? Gomen nesai, this chapter is considerably short. I'm also sorry that it's taken me so long to update, it's partially because I've other fan fiction in the works and partially because I've gotten a bit of writer's block for chapter twelve, which is as far as I've written up on paper... I actually had this written up a while back, I just haven't gotten around to posting it. Chapter VIII should be up within a week or so, so don't fret. But why would you? By the reviews it looks like I'm losing readers… Oh well, I'll keep going anyway. I've got at least one fan completely loyal to the fic so if nothing else I'll keep writing it for her… One question though, have I written Hikaru out of character? Someone wrote me an E-mail saying that I did. I'd like you all to remember that she's sixteen in this fic so I figure I can get away with writing her slightly out character at times, cause y'know, people change over time. What do you think? 


	10. Preparations for the Tournament

                                                Chapter: VIII

Preparations for the Tournament

"Oh, an E-mail from Hikaru-san and one from Umi-san as well…" Fuu said as she stretched her arms and cracked her neck.

She scrolled down her inbox; there were sixteen new messages since she'd last checked which was about a week ago. "Hmmm… there appears to be one from Ruki-san," One of Kuu's good friends. She was going to open it when the bold letters "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!"  A few messages below Ruki's from WaterMaiden_Fencer: Umi's E-mail account name caught her attention. "Oh, yet another from Umi-san. How nice." She said as she adjusted her spectacles.

Her curiosity brought forth, Fuu moved the mouse and clicked on the message. "Oh, my…" she said as she read over the e-mail then re-read it. "Umi-san was right, I don't believe this," again she read the message. Her fingers grazed over the keys and she began to type, _'I can't believe sir Lantis has somehow come to earth. This is quite amazing news…I should assume that Hikaru-san is rather pleased at these sudden turn of events.'_

Fuu then pulled out the small communicator Ferio had given her from out of her pocket. Unlike the first time she'd returned to Tokyo, the second time, the oval shaped item had remained with her. She couldn't use it to communicate with him, but it was at least nice to be able to keep his gift. Although once or twice when she had been alone preparing for bed, she thought she'd heard his faint voice emanating from the trinket. But dismissed that possibility for she assumed that her mind was simply playing tricks on her… Still, she frequently spoke into it, just incase he could hear her; hoping he'd hear her or that she'd get a response from him…

From the corner of her eye, the Magic Knight of Wind caught the families' cat hissing at her. It's fur stood straight up as it threateningly glared at her. 'Why does that creature always look as though it wishes to kill me?' she wondered as she quickly typed up the rest of her response. It was a really friendly cat except when it came to her. For some reason the little beast hated her, she was sure of it but then again, most cats seemed to hate her... 

Right after clicking on the send button, the cat pounced on her and viciously clawed Fuu's poor, bare hands that had been previously scarred by the cat's attacks. She winced in pain as the little beast bit down on her index knuckle and refused to let go.

With her free hand, Fuu gently grabbed the cat from the back of it's neck, vainly attempting to get the small beast to release her from its painful grasp. However, all it seemed to do was become even more aggressive, biting and clawing at her more fiercely than before. Something snapped in the magic knight and she suddenly darted forward, letting out a wild bird-like cry into the cats ear.

Instantly it let her go and jumped back onto the floor; slightly frightened of the loud piercing sound. It stared at her a moment unsure whether to attack again or run. When the golden-brown haired girl indicated her raise from out of her chair, it quickly darted out of the room.

'How ever was I able to do that?' she wondered as she closed the open programs and shut the computer down. 'It sounded like sir Windam's cry only it came from me…' she continued to contemplate as to how she was able to sound such a high pitched screamed and if she'd be able to scare off the cat with it for a second time, before going off in search of the bottle of iodine she'd so familiarized herself with.

                                                            *          *          *

"Well now, who's this?" the elder sister of one of the children taking kendo asked.

"He's quite handsome isn't he?" Another young woman added.

"Almost as attractive as Satoru."

"No, he's even better looking!"

"Well I say they're both equally gorgeous."

 The women encircling both Lantis and Satoru continued on with their banter as they flirted with them.

"So stranger, what's your name?"

Feeling uncomfortable already, he decided to just answer the girls' questions to the best of his ability. "I'm Lantis," he said quietly. 

"Pardon? What was the name? I didn't quite hear, was it Lan?"

The swordsmen looked towards Satoru only to find him being bombarded with questions about the new houseguest. "Um, yes…" 'May as well just stick with Lan since I have a feeling that's what everyone's going to be calling me anyway…' "Uh, why are all these girls around us?" 

"Because they find us attractive and don't want to give us a moments peace of mind…" Satoru sighed.

"This happens to you often?" 

"Every time the "kiddie class" finishes for the day. Luckily though, I only teach them on the weekends. But I'm afraid that you're now apart of their fan club…" 

"How do we get rid of them?"

 "It's just so totally unfair." Kakeru stated as he watched the girls who'd come to pick up their younger siblings from the Shidou, Kendo dojo flock around Satoru. Some didn't even have siblings taking kendo; they simply came along with their friends who had siblings to pick up. Most of them would try to flirt with him, but to no avail, and that's what was really unfair. His older brother had women falling at his feet, head over heals for him and yet he held no interest for them at all. And now that they noticed Satoru number two, they were ogling the both of them, and both of them were trying to deal with their fan group the same way, run. However, there was nowhere to run fore they were surrounded in all directions of their small fan club.

"What's unfair Kakeru sensei?" Yamato questioned.

"What's unfair is that my big brother catches the eyes of nearly every girl who comes by the dojo and I can hardly get a single date!" 

Yamato wrinkled his nose at that comment. And Kakeru laughed, "I guess you're a little too young yet to be interested in the ladies." The boy just stared at him blankly. 

As the students for the next kendo class came the mob of teenaged girls slowly departed taking their younger siblings with them. Which left Satoru to go and start his next class as Lantis and Kakeru moved themselves over to the side where they observed Satoru's students.

"I'm really envious of you and Satoru y'know." Kakeru said quietly. 

Lantis merely stood there. Silently. His arms were crossed and he seemed to be off in his own little world. 

"To have women all over you. And yet you both could care less."

"Pay attention to the class. That's what we're supposed to be doing."

"Oh, I am. But there's no harm in making conversation," he shot back. "So when do we get to see you fight for real?" After waiting a few moments without receiving a response he decided to continue, "I guess I'll have to see it by challenging you sometime. I'd love to see how good you really are and how you'd fair against me. I don't mean to toot my own horn but we Shidou have been training in the art of sword since we were born and we're all very skilled to boot how else do you think we could maintain such a well respected dojo?" he didn't wait for the older man to respond. "Even though I've only known you for a few days, I can tell you're a lot like Satoru. It's almost scary y'know. You act so coldly and If I didn't know any better I'd say you're ignoring me, but I know Satoru and it's just your way isn't it? You're not much for unnecessary conversation are you?"

The Kailu smiled. "No, I'm not."

"We should take you on a tour of the city."

Lantis hadn't expected him to say that and looked down at him, "Nani?"

"When Hikaru gets back, we should show you around neh? You're new to the city and since you'll be staying here for a while, you should get to familiarize yourself with the area." 

"That's true."  

"So it's settled then."

"What about your elder brother? Will he not need someone to assist him with his classes?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. By the time we're ready to go, Masaru should be back. He only works part time so his shift will be over and he'll be just returning when we head out."

"Then I suppose it is settled…"

Kakeru inserted his phone card and dialed the Shidou household's number and impatiently waited for either Masaru or Satoru to pick up on the other end. "Come on, come on."

The line stopped ringing. "Moshi, moshi." It was Masaru.

"Masaru. Great! I need directions."

"Directions for what?"

"Directions to get home. See we got kinda lost and-"

"Baka. Why am I not surprised? It figures that you'd get lost in your own city!" 

"Hey! It's not like I'm the only one living in Tokyo who gets lost!"

An argument between the two brothers erupted over the pay phone "This may take a while," Hikaru said and motioned Lantis to come with her and sit on the nearby bench. Her and Kakeru had taken Lantis all over the place, from parks to Tokyo Tower. She yawned and flopped down on the seat; they'd done quite a fair amount of walking today and she was feeling tired now. "So what do you think of the city?"

"It's odd, very reminiscent of Autozam, and Fahren…"

"Really? You think so? I always thought Autozam was reminiscent of America." At the look of puzzlement on his face she explained, "Oh, um. America or the United States of America-which is its full name-Is a country that's across the Pacific Ocean from Japan."

"The Pacific Ocean?"

"Okay, y'know how we were down by an ocean today? Well that was the Pacific Ocean. It's the biggest body of water on this planet." She then went through her pockets and pulled out a pencil and the small paper bag she had full of candies. "Hold these for me?" he did so and she quickly drew up a world map; which consisted of two blobs connected to each other with a short thin line-North and South America-another much larger blob with a broken line in one third of the blob-Europe and Asia-Then she drew Africa, and Australia but left out Antarctica. "This here is America. This is Japan."

"They look like blobs."

"Okay so I can't draw that well. Just pretend this is Japan and this is America." She then scribbled in the area's that were the Pacific Ocean. That's the Pacific Ocean."

"What's the land above this America?"

"Oh, that's the country Canada I think. Yeah Canada. I have this Great Aunt who lives somewhere there and once every year she sends us maple treats. Oh, they're so sweet."

"What are Canada and America like?" He asked with outmost curiosity.

"Well, I've never been to either of them, but I've been told that they're very similar to each other. You'd have to ask Umi. I know that she's been to one of those countries at least once. Her family's rich so they do lots of traveling to all sorts of different places."

"Hmmm… So what does Fahren remind you of?" 

"From what Fuu told me about Fahren, it's most like China-it's located around here." She said as she circled a large section of Asia on the paper bag. "Except for the ninjas. They're Japanese. Not Chinese. And from what Umi told me about Chizeta they're very Arabic." She then circled more areas on her little map.

"And Cephiro?"

She took a moment and thought. "Cephiro's unique. It doesn't really remind me of any country or continent well maybe, slightly a little bit like Old Britain, but that's only because Cephiro has a European, medieval feel to it. But for the most part, Cephiro's a fantasy world. A world that you'd find more reminiscent to one of the worlds in Umi's video games or in fairy tales."

Just then a black limo pulled up to the curb and as the tinted window rolled down she found Umi staring at them "Hey Hikaru, what are you guys doing?"

"We were giving Lantis a tour of the city and then we got lost so right now Kakeru's on the phone with Masaru arguing about something or other."

"Wanna lift?"

"If it's not a bother."

"Of course not."

Hikaru called out, "Kakeru, we're getting a lift from Umi!"

"Okay!" he then cut Masaru off from his mid rant. "Whatever bye." And with that he hung up the phone. 

Hikaru climbed into the limo first, Kakeru followed and Lantis after him.

"Hey there Red. It's so nice to see you again." Maxwell said brightly.

"Oh, uh, Hi. It's you- um, Maxwell was it." He nodded and took her hand and kissed her backhand, then gave her a sly smile. 

Lantis caught the look and the kiss before hand, as did Kakeru and both men stared at the stranger coldly. The Kailu's hands became clutched fist and his teeth gritted, but no one seemed to notice.

"Put your eyes back into your head!" Kakeru snapped and the Maxwell boy instantly sat back in his seat, sweat dropping. 

"Woa, now hold on, I meant nothing by my gesture. I was simply being polite that's all." The boy back paddled, the answer seemed to satisfy Kakeru and he dropped the subject, Lantis remained in his cold state. His eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, my bad."

"Kakeru, this is the 'Jerk'. 'Jerk this is Kakeru, Hikaru's big brother and Lantis." Umi announced then motioned for the driver to drive.

"Lantis? Like the car Mazda Lantis?"

"I call him Car name guy- or Satoru number two." Kakeru called out while Lantis rubbed his forehead.

"Just call me Lan." 

"Lan?" both Hikaru and Umi questioned. While Kakeru moved from the seat beside his little sister over to sit beside Maxwell, Umi went over and sat beside Hikaru.

"It's the name I've decided to use. It's a lesser hassle this way."

"Having problems with your name?" The blue haired girl inquired.

"I've been called several different things by Kakeru," he said gesturing to the young man who was suddenly enveloped in a conversation with Maxwell about cars. "And by miscellaneous women whom were both lusting after myself and Satoru, I've been called, Lan, Ran, Dan, and for some reason Yushiro. So taking everything into consideration I'm just going to say from now on, my name is Lan."

"Wow, that's the first time I've heard you say more than like a five word sentence." Umi teased. "So what's your last name?"

"I don't have one."

"Alright then I suppose I'll have to give you one."

"How about Mazda? Like the car name?" Hikaru interrupted.

"Or how about just Mazd? Lan, Mazd." Umi said.

"Whatever." Lantis leaned back in his chair and looked out the tinted window, watching the buildings go by. 

"Well someone's in a sour mood-what's that? She asked as her attention fell on the paper bag Hikaru held.

"I drew up a world map to show Lantis where America was."

"It looks like a mutilated cow."

"Hey!"

A small grin appeared on Lantis' face.

                                                            *          *          *

"Which one should I fight with?" the summoner asked. "Puipar? Gawragh? ChtiLax? Or maybe Ort?"

"You'd better get your group together soon Ascot," Ferio began. "The Summoners' Tournament's in only a couple of days."

The Summoner's Tournament was a grand tournament, which was held once every fifty Cephirian years. The strongest of summoners traveled to the large city of Vaulkram-in the southeastern hemisphere to battle for the title of "Top Summoner". The tournament generally lasted for about thirteen days with up to four monster battles per day. Only one monster from your team was permitted to be called forth for each battle and you could only use a maximum of eight monsters to fight throughout the whole tournament.

"I know Ferio… But it's just so hard to choose. I don't want to run the risk of having one of my creatures die so I'm trying to select the strongest."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Yeah, but I have no idea what the monsters of the other summoners are like. I was going to ask Lantis for advice since he's been to at least three tournaments but now that he's gone…"

"Yeah…" There was silence for a minute. "Well… I've been to a few… Granted I was only a little kid at the time but… If I remember correctly, the Summoners who were most successful were the ones who used monsters that they identified with best. So I'd suggest that you use monsters that attack physically but even more so to use monsters of trickery, like the ones you used back when you were fighting against the magic knights."

"Hmmm…"

Just then, the large double doors of the castle library creaked open to show the short mechanic of Autozam, Zazu. "Hey guys." He said brightly-casually as he strolled into the room. "What are you we talking about?"

"Ascot's scary friends." The Cephirian prince replied.

"The upcoming tournament and which monsters I should use."

"Oh, cool!" Zazu said as he pulled out a small electrical organizer from his pocket. He picked up the cord that dangled from the back of the organizer and inserted the jack into his headband, the organized instantly clicked on and booted it up and he sat down at the table. "What types of monsters are you going to use?"

"Uh, well… So far, I've selected Nearl-she's a defensive monster. Stands about seven feet tall. Brown scales… she has a resistance against the element lightning…"

The young boy's gloved fingers rapidly punched down on the buttons as he recorded what was being said.

"Ragnarus, he fights best in the air. Two sets of wings. One set feathered the other; they look more like Selece's wings. Flight and agility are his ability's but he can also listen to someone's voice and mimic it but also raise the pitch to an unbearable high."

"Uh, huh." 

"Hey Ascot? I hope ya don't mind but I'm going to cut in. Zazu, about the modifications to the Tournament Coliseum-" 

"Just about finished actually," he replied. After saving the brief information on Ascot's monsters he pulled up a blue print of the coliseum and over laid it with some architectural drawings. "The guys and I had to make a few additional changes here, here and here, for the wiring. We've plotted a concession stand right by the main entrance," he explained as he changed the view so they could see the main entrance. Then to a birds-eye-view of the whole building, "and another on the third floor right… here. The two large main screens located opposite each other were a little tricky, but they've been properly installed… It's too bad Master Mage Clef insisted on keeping that ancient coliseum. I could have torn it down and designed a better one for you guys."

"We're lucky that you were given permission to make the modifications that you've made," Ferio laughed. "It took a lot of persuasion from just about everyone within the Palace before Clef caved."

"Yeah, why was that? I was under the impression that Cephiro was a Monarchy."

"It's kinda complicated but basically-as far as I know. When the king and queen of Cephiro ruled, all Cephirians were loyal to the crown as we had always been and the King's word was rule. But when the king and queen passed on, there was no one yet ready to assume the thrown so a Council of Regents was devised to govern the land until prince Ferio was well trained and worthy to accept the title of King and all responsibility's following with that title."

"So when Ferio becomes King, Cephiro will revert to the old system?"

"Yep," Ferio jumped in.

"And everyone's okay with that?"

"Well why wouldn't they be?"

"Well, isn't it better to simply leave Cephiro to be ruled the way it is now? Where the power is on more than one person? That way the decisions aren't biased and Ferio wouldn't get stressed out with political problems all the time." Zazu questioned.

Not even a moment was spared before the suggestion was rejected.

"I'd love to not be bogged down with so much responsibility-but still, when the time comes, I will accept my role and my title and we will revert back to the old system."

"But why?"

Ascot jumped in, "because, that's the way it's supposed to be."

"But why?"

"Because."

"I bet you guys don't even know why." Zazu stated in annoyance. He didn't agree with the idea that one man had the power to make anyone and everyone living in Cephiro does whatever he told them to. That could lead to problems. It had with Autozam in the far past when they were governed in a similar fashion; it had lead to a much needed civil war. It split the country into factions, those who were loyalists and supported the dictatorship and the freedom fighters that believed that a new system of government had to come about. He couldn't remember how the whole ordeal was resolved-he was a mechanic not a historian- but it resulted in the birth of their Democratic Republican which worked out a lot better from what he understood, so he didn't understand why the Cephirians wouldn't want to keep with the system they had now-or better yet, adopt Autozams system. 

"There doesn't have to be a reason. That's just the way Cephiro is supposed to be ruled." Ferio shot back. Cephiro was not accustomed to change-most Cephirians were still unaccustomed to being responsible for the well being of their own country-but it was understandable and tolerable because their were circumstances that prevented the ancient ways to prevail. But this… Not returning to the old way of Rule was an unacceptable concept. Any Cephirian would have agreed. There is no reason not to revert to the old system and thus meant that their was no reason to stay with the temporary system that had been used for over the five-hundred centuries…

Zazu gave up and decided not to bother with pressing the matter. "Well at any rate, the modifications are nearly complete and it is estimated that 6 048.5 people should be able to be held with the coliseum but I'll need to double check.

_Ferio. _The old master mage's voice sounded within the Royal Cephirian boys' head. He listened to what Clef was informing him about and then stood from the table. "I've just been told that Chizeta's Bravada has docked outside the castle and being that I'm the stupid prince of Cephiro, I have to go and welcome my countries guests." His white-gloved fingers ran through his hair as he sighed.

"See ya later then." Ascot said.

Before the scar-faced prince had even left the room, the other two retreated back to their previous conversation.

By Ferio's left side, stood his chief advisor and master mage of Cephiro, Clef. Normally to his right would be his personal, as well as Captain of the Guards, Lafarga. However, Clef had informed him that he had been sent off to run an errand but was not told specifically what the errand was. Ferio decided not to bother asking why Lafarga had left without running it by him first; actually it was a relief to have the master swordsmen away for a while. Being that the man _was _his personal guard, he was constantly around him and it was a refreshing change to be free of the man's constant presence.

Ferio asked casually, "Hey girls, what's up?" being that the older man was too short to elbow the rude prince, he lightly bonked his green haired highness on the back of his head with his staff. "Ow!"

The taller of the two golden brown skinned girls let out a light innocent laugh.

"Okay, okay." Ferio said. Bowing before the two women, "On behalf of my country and it's people. I prince Ferio, welcome the princesses of Chizeta, Tatra and Tarta to Cephiro.

Tatra giggled and decided to play along, "and we, the princesses of Chizeta are overjoyed to be here. Isn't that right sista?"

"Oh, I'm experiencing orgasms of happiness." She said flatly.

"I apologize for my younger sister's lack of manners."

"And I apologize on behalf of my young prince's."

"Well, with that said and done. Please follow us; Clef and I shall personally escort you to your rooms," Ferio said as a few servants walked over to collect the princesses' luggage.

Authors notes: I've updated. It's been a while hasn't it? Oi. What to say? What to say? Ah, yes. For anyone who doesn't know-I did a little research- Tokyo, because it's so densely populated. Many people are only familiar with a few districts, and once they leave those districts, they're completely lost. And being lost in Tokyo is not uncommon whether you are tourist or native. Just thought I'd say that. I think it helps explain why Kakeru got Hikaru and Lantis lost. And another thing I'd like to make absolutely clear. No, No, NO! I am not trying to bite off Pokemon with the summoner's tournament. At the time when I was originally working on this chapter I think the Olympic Games had just finished or we were right in the middle of them. So I thought to myself; what would Cephiro have which would be similar to that? Plus in Civics we were studying ancient Rome: the Gladiators and the coliseums. Y'know, Spastics and all that. So the fics' been influenced by that. At any rate I've also been trying to work out small details of Cross and two side stories: One focusing on Clef's life from like, young mage-hood to probably Zagato's declaration of his war against Cephiro. The other will be Lantis' past, which focuses a lot on his family, the bond between him and Zagato and… let's just say some other interesting things. Oh, I can't wait to write them! 


	11. Annoyance, Fluff, and the White Feathure...

Authors Notes: Whoa. T'is been a while, no? A couple reasons why. As I have mentioned in my Geo/Eagle fic "Wings of an Eagle" (Is that what I called it? I'm too lazy to check. ~_^ **Shrugs** anyways. This summer passed, I was heavily into drawing and trying to develop a few of my comic book series stories. (Hey I wanna be a comic book artist/writer! Hey! It could happen! Hey stop laughing at me! Hey don't walk away yet you haven't read my newest chapter installment!) If you'd like to see some of my anime fanart you can check it out through Mediaminer better yet, I'll give you a direct link: http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php?id=50777 Well I have a few other things to say but I'll wait till the end of the chapter to make mention of them. 

_Note: Umiushi-to my understanding- means Sea slug. _

_         -Wakarimasen- I don't understand_

_        -Todaima- I'm home_

_       -Minna-san -everyone_

_Remember that for later on in this chapter. If you any of these translations are incorrect, staple my foot with a nail gun and correct me. But I'm pretty sure they're right._

_"Hello, Mark," Barbara said._

_"Hi. How are you doing today?"_

_"Fairly well. Would you like to go out tonight to the movies?"_

Tap, tap, tap.

Umi looked up from her English homework in agitation. "What? What do you want?"

"Oh? What makes you think I want anything?" Maxwell replied with a menacing smile on his face. "I'm just waiting till the dye in my hair is ready to be rinsed out." It had been nearly a week since he'd arrived and already the roots of his hair were starting to show his natural hair colour, so he'd decided to re-dye it, shinning silver before he would begin school next week.

"Well do you have to sit in here? The smell of that dye is distracting me from my studies." Umi stated as she looked up from her the textbooks and handouts sprawled all over the table.

Maxwell looked over at her papers and noticed the one with English writing all over it. He picked it up and read over it. "This-This is your homework? Reading this lame ass, boring story that has no point?" 

She snatched it back from him. "Well excuse me. I'm not the one who's been living in North America for the past ten years!"

"Well, if you really want, I could always help you Umi-chan." He said in a 'know it all', arrogant tone.

"I don't need any sort of help from you. And you aren't allowed to call me "chan", you lost that right ten years ago."

"Oh, then perhaps you'd rather me call you-what was that Old Nick name of yours?"

"Don't-"

"Umiushi."

The water knight's cheeks turned a crimson colour, her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. In a low calm voice she ordered, "don't call me that." She hated the age-old nickname she'd been given since she was but only six. It was one of Maxwell's many going away presents and it had only been since the start of junior high a few years ago, that she was able to drop it completely. "If you ever call me that at school I'll-"

"What? Umiushi? I think it suits you." 

"Shut up!"

"Umiushi!"

Suddenly she jumped up from her seat, knocking her chair to the floor. Her eyes were like ice and her fists were clenched tightly. "GET OUT!"

He seemed unaffected. "My, my, someone has a short temper. And here all I was trying to do was help you out, Umi-"

"Say it and I'll ram this bottle of water down your throat!" she said picking up the half drunken bottle of water she'd been drinking earlier at school that day.

"That's no way to treat our guest Umi." Her mother scolded from the living room.

"Argh! He's not our guest!" She muttered to herself, "he's-he's an inconvenience."  

Maxwell heard. "I'm still your guest," he leaned in across the table, propped his elbows up and rested his chin on his hands, "you sure you don't want me to help you babe?"

"Are you going to be as annoying as you've been this past week, for the rest of your stay?"

"When you get over the past, get over that little incident involving your stupid hair, let bygones be bygones and stop referring to me as "the Jerk", I'll stop teasing you. How does that sound?"

She leaned in close to his face "Drop dead. And hello? Little hair incident, how dare you! Just who do you think you are?"

"Unfortunately, your fiancée," and then his hand reached behind her head and pressed his lips against hers.

She was caught off guard for a moment then pushed away and slapped him across the face. "What the?! Why the hell'd you do that?!" she tried to rub the taste of him off her lips. 

"Felt like the thing to do," he said smugly as he rubbed the side of his face. He smiled in victory.

Without thinking, Umi suddenly yelled out, "Icicle Blades!" as one of her arms shot forward.

He stared at her blankly a moment then began laughing, "and just what was that? Some sort of Sailor moon attack?"

_Oh I feel lame. If the planet decided to open up and swallow me right now, I wouldn't show much resistance_…' Unsure of what to do, she did the only thing that came to mind; she hit him over the head with her textbook.

"owww…" He clutched his head in agony. 

"I'm going to my room. You are so lucky I have homework to finish; otherwise I'd kill you. But if you dare try to sneak in you little pervert, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

"These actions of yours wouldn't happen to involve little imaginary icicle swords would they?" he mocked.

"Shut up!"

"Or what?"

"I'll kick your ass and make you eat mud like when we were little."

That quieted him down. He looked away, embarrassed by the memory.

Umi gathered up her homework and began to leave.

He couldn't leave things like that. He had to get in one last shot. He just couldn't let her walk off in triumph. "By the way." He began. Trying his best to sound casual, "I was thinking of asking that cute little red headed number out Umiushi-"

"Argh!!!" She screamed. He didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before she'd stomped off out of the room.

Reaching her room, she pulled open the door, barged in then slammed it closed. "Stupid Jerk," she muttered as she walked over to her desk dropping everything held in her arms onto it. Unfortunately, half her stuff had been improperly balanced and slid off the desk and plummeted towards her feet. She yelped and jumped back and began hopping on her one foot as she held the other and tried to message the sore spot. After a few moments of this a thought came to her and she hopped over to her bed and sat down. She pulled back her sock and examined her foot; it was red and swelling and she desperately wanted ice to soothe the pain, but to get to her freezer she'd have to go back and deal with him so she motioned to head over to the washroom connected to her room. Before going in, she decided to pick up her mess, after gathering it up and placing it properly on her cluttered desk-so as that they wouldn't fall off again-she just happened to look down at the last item she'd picked up and what she saw startled her. "What the…" The last thing she picked up was her water bottle; she inspected it very carefully. _Impossible. How did the water freeze to solid ice…how…did I…?_

                                                                        *          *          *

"It's no good…" Hikaru stated as she tossed from her side onto her back, "I just can't fall asleep…" Pushing back her futon bed's covers, she sat up stretched slightly then stood up and left her room. While aimlessly wandering the hallway she spotted a dim light radiating through her youngest brother's room. Slowly and quietly she peered in through the half open door into his room, and found him slouched over on his desk. "Kakeru, are you awake still?" her only response was a muffled snore.

Sliding back the door she entered the room and went directly to the closet, and pulled out Kakeru's folded futon. She set it on the floor and then retrieved a few sheets and covers, quickly made his bed, and went back over to his sleeping form. "_Now here's the tricky part." _She thought to herself as she debated how to get her brother from the rather uncomfortable sleeping position he was in, over to his bed. 

"Let's see…" First she lightly grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back so that he was sleeping up against the back of his chair. Then she tidied his desk, which was cluttered with his books on electronics and electricity. Unfortunately before she could catch her brother, his body leaded forward and his forehead smacked against the hard wooden desk. "Oh shoot! Gomen ne!" But he just kept sleeping. "He's going to feel that in the morning," she stated aloud. _But it's his own fault for being so insistent on getting a desk for his room…_

She pulled him back up again and looked over his forehead where the bruise was forming before she attempted to pick him up. She ended up slinging his one arm around her shoulders as she held his other arm and tried to guide the sleeping young man to his bed. _He's heavier than he looks_… she thought as she finally made it over to his bed. Within a minute, she'd somewhat tucked him into bed and now she stood upright and tried to stretch herself out. "I think I pulled something…" And then she noticed the back of her hand had somehow become covered in Kakeru's saliva. A look of disgust washed over her face and she decided to go off and wash her hands. "Good night Kakeru." She whispered then slid his door shut, and preceded to go off and wash her hands.

After quickly washing her hands, she was going to head towards the back of her house, outside so that she could speak with Hikari but instead, ended up going into the living room when she heard movement within that particular room.

"It's a little late to be up and roaming about is it not?" Lantis asked as he quietly sat reading a book he must have found lying around in the house. 

"I couldn't sleep." She said as she walked into the room. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead." He flipped the page and continued on for a few minutes. She watched him. His eyes were fixated on what he was reading and it was obvious that he was really in to it. "Sorry."

Her head perked up. "For what?"

He closed the book and set it down on the table. "It was rude to keep reading."

"Oh! No, that's all right. I don't mind. What book were you reading anyway?" She brushed her hand over the cover and read the title. "World mythologies? Ah, one of Masaru's books."

"There are a few interesting stories in there." The swordsmen said as he leaned back into the cushion of the couch.

Hikaru flipped through a few pages. "How far have you read up to?"

"Just began reading Norse."

"Hmmm… yeah, Norse is interesting. I remember when Masaru first got this book; he kept reading the different mythologies to me. I really liked The Dream time."

"Dream time?"

"Yeah, it's on page 46 I think." He picked up the book and flipped through the pages.

After reading the first paragraph, he asked, "Is there something I could use as a book mark?"

Hikaru looked around. "Just bend the corner of the page, I'm sure Masaru wont mind."

"Is there any truth to these stories?" he questioned after placing the book back on the table.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows. So how've you been adjusting to life on earth? I haven't been able to talk with you much this week. I've been either running around trying to finish my chores or busily trying to finish my homework."

"You're having problems with your school work?"

"A little."

"Why haven't you asked for help?"

"I don't need help. I need to focus on my school work."

"Wakarimasen."

"Well… I guess I'm just finding school boring is all," she said tiredly. She too leaned back into the cushion of the couch.

"Oh?" He raised a brow and looked down at her questionably. "Are you not allowed to stop going to school? If you're bored there, why stay?"

"Now that I'm sixteen, I could legally drop out but… my brothers wouldn't like that." Since the events with Cephiro, she'd sort of lost interest in schooling. Granted she still wanted to become a veterinarian, which would require schooling, but it wasn't her life's ambition. To her it now felt more like a hobby she might want to do later on down the road. She couldn't see herself as being a vet anymore. In all honesty she'd sort of lost interest in earth-though she hid it well. Cephiro was where she wanted to be. That was understandable wasn't it? She had become its Pillar and so she was connected with it on a very personal level. Not to mention she was also one of its three guardians. Was it so wrong to want to be there? The only things that had kept her back were her brothers and a lack of knowledge on how to return…

Lantis smiled. "So you waste your time confined within a building you've no interest in just to please others…"

"Well it's not quite like, that. I mean it's not all bad. Besides, it beats doing nothing. Sometimes it's fun. The kendo club is fun... Biology and…um… lunch…" She thought for a moment. Actually those really were the only things she liked about her school-aside from her friends. "Well at least I don't have to take music anymore."

"You don't like music?" he questioned, slightly surprised. How could anyone not like music? Even he liked music-well… not the overly upbeat kind but still…

"It's not that I don't like music, it's just that we don't mix very well together and I'm not very good in the subject."

"I see." The Kailu stretched and turned to face her better, crossing the ankle of his right leg over his left knee and wrapping his hands around that leg to keep it in place. "So then, what would you do if you were no longer in school?"

"I probably help Satoru nii-sama out with running the dojo. Get a job to contribute to household expenses… Not do much else than that."

"Sounds like what I'm doing only with out the job thing." 

With that the young Japanese girl began to giggle which then burst into a quiet laughter. Leaving Lantis with a confused look on his face, which only made her, laugh more.

"What's so funny?"

She calmed herself. "You're acting different than usual."

"Am I?" He didn't think he was.

"Yeah. Usually you're very aloof and quiet. Frequently unemotional and at times you seem very distressed."

"I am?" He asked, as though he honestly had no idea that that was how many perceived him as.

She nodded.

"I'm sorry."

She wasn't sure what to make of his apology so she moved onto the next subject. "I think now that you're feeling better, Masaru and Kakeru are going to try to challenge you."

"You're probably right Kakeru's already made mention of a one on one match. Guess I'll have to work out the scoring."

"Oh, that's easy. I can help with that. All I want to say is, my brothers are pretty good-"

"So I should be careful when I face them?"

She scratched the back of her head, "Um, actually, I was going to ask that you take it easy on them. They're good but not that good…" 

She yawned and let out a light sigh as she snuggled against his shoulder. He stiffened at the sudden action. Hikaru sensed his uneasiness and that's when she realized what she was doing. Instantly she bolted up away from him. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know what I was thinking."

Surprisingly he seemed a little hurt. "You don't want to lean against me?"

"No! No I mean yes. I mean. I don't know what I mean." Her heart rate sped a little and she wasn't sure what to do.

He looked at her a moment and debated something with himself, then his left arm he moved forward slightly, wrapping around her thin waist and pulling her towards him. Her upper half now rested on his chest and her right leg overlapped his left. "I don't mind. You just caught me off guard…"

Her cheeks burned crimson and she tilted her head downwards, burrowing her face within his shirt and taking in his scent. She was feeling that strange tingly feeling again.

"I'm not very good at this." She heard him state, but it was more like he was talking to himself than to her.

"At what?"

"Being close…" He loosened his grip on her.

"It's kinda scary," she admitted.

"Yeah." His fingers idly played with the odd strand of hair. His breathing was deeper than it had been. For quite some time, the two of them merely sat there. Enjoying each others company and wonder what they were supposed to do next. The silence was noticeable, yet not awkward. It was actually quite soothing. 

She squirmed and moved a little and looked up at him. She'd never have pegged him as one to blush, but the sudden rose colour on his normally pale face told her otherwise. One of her hands slowly crept up his chest and hesitantly rested around the nape of his neck, as though she were afraid he would abruptly push her away. In reassurance his right arm gently held her mid back while his other stayed at her waist. Her free hand came to stroke his jaw line and ran over the bit of stubble growing on his face. 

For a moment he leant his forehead against hers. "I'd like to kiss you now." She nodded and he lightly brushed his lips against hers. She smiled slightly and kissed him back in the same fashion. 

"Todaima!" Masaru called out as he and Satoru entered the house.

Instantly Hikaru was at the other end of the couch with Lantis unsure of what to say or do. One moment he was being straddled by the young woman he was in love with, the next…

"Oh, hey, Hikaru-chan what are you doing up so late?" Masaru questioned passing by the living room he yawned while doing so.

"Nothing! I mean I couldn't sleep!" she said in a high voice. Satoru had stopped at the living room's entrance and shifted his eyes from Lantis to his baby sister. He made note her actions and Lantis' lack of. His eyes narrowed.

"Okay. 'Night minna-san." Masaru yawned and then headed off to his room.

"I should go to bed too." And with that, the little red head whizzed by Satoru as quickly as she could and headed off to her bed.

Which left Lantis and Satoru staring unreadable stares at each one other. 

The eldest Shidou brother was unsure of what to make of what he walked in on-or rather, what he thought he'd walked in on. He wasn't angry, or upset in the least. He was a bit perturbed and the protective older brother in him told him to take action, but he also felt no particular desire to do anything so he simply said after a moment, "good night." Then followed in his sibling's footsteps.

                                                                        *          *          *

I can do this. Sakuya had told himself as he stood at the foot of an apartment complex much like his own. He'd been trailing a man who'd had an aura signature unlike those of this planet and watched him head into the lobby. Part of his training had been to feel out the general energy pattern of a planet's people and the ones whom had signatures unlike those born of that particular world- those who's aura's differed were "targets" that he was supposed to take out, along with the head he'd personally lain claim on. He wasn't exactly sure why but it was something to do with rival organizations or potential threats to them. Something like, that-as if he cared. All he wanted was to avenge his parents and get Umi out of her Organization that he was associated with and away from that man who was always around her. He neither liked nor trusted the blond haired man, but Umi had for some reason held an indissoluble bond with the man and said that she'd stay by that man's side until he'd achieved his goals. So by allowing himself to be used by the Organization, he'd at least get two things that he want which he wouldn't have gotten otherwise. One: his revenge and two, his beloved sister-figure: Umi. 

He took in a deep breath and thought over his plan. He'd have to get in and out of there relatively quickly if he wasn't going to get caught. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach that he couldn't shake and realized that it was because this was going to be his first time…

Don't think about it. He told him self and took the first step.

He paused for a moment and tried to get a lock on the man's energy. He felt it remotely and looked in that direction. He saw the man just as the elevator doors closed. Sakuya took note of what floor he was going to get off: seven. Damn it. Luckily there was another elevator at the other end of the lobby for going up and he quickly moved towards it. Stepping inside, he pressed floor seven and now it was a matter of waiting.

How to get into the room? How to keep the man from screaming out? A thought occurred to him, and that's when the doors opened to reveal the seventh floor. He darted quickly over to where he felt his target's aura and saw that the man had only now just stepped into his apartment. As quietly as he could he dashed to the door and slid his fingers between the door and it's way. He sucked in a grunt of pain as his fingers throbbed and pulled open the door slightly. He crept in and shut the door behind him. 

The room was dimly lit and from what he could tell, the man he'd been after was currently in the washroom fore he could hear the flow of running water. Silently, without making any noise at all -just as he'd been taught- he walked over to the hall and stood behind the wall. He waited. 

The water stopped and the sound of a door sliding back sounded. As the man came near Sakuya, he waited for the man to pass by him and the held his hands together. He knocked the man in the back of his head in one swift movement. He went down in one hit and he was out cold.  

The man awoke to a rather harsh slap across the face. His head throbbed and he felt constricted. It took a moment but he realized that he was bound tightly to one of his kitchen chairs. Without thinking he struggled to no avail to free himself. He grunted and noticed the teen in front of him.

The young man was idly fumbled through his wallet, going through his credit cards, identification, and all other personal information he had in there.

"Well that proved useless." He said. He closed the wallet and threw it onto the man's lap. He then covered the short distance between them and bent over, leaning into him. "I guess I'll have to force it out of you."

"Force what out of me? Who are you? What do you want?"

"I want information about who you're working for."

"I- you must have me mistaken for somebody else, I'm a banker, I-"

"I mean information about your organization!" He said in annoyance.

The man's eyes went wide but he said nothing.

"You don't want to talk with me?" he asked calmly then in a quick movement punched him in the mid section. He watched the man bend over as far as he could in his current state of bondage and cracked his knuckles. "I guess I'll have to get you to open up." Sakuya held one of the man's hands and with almost a completely unemotional, expression; he slowly began to bend one of the man's fingers back. The finger broke and the man cried out in pain.  

"I've been trained to get what I want through any means possible. This is my first time actually torturing someone," he began as he stood. First he walked over to the stereo and turned it on. It sounded to him like the music that of a radio drama which began to play. He walked back over and grabbed –what looked like a potential gag and a small knife, which had been resting on the counter. He walked back over to the man and went down on his knees first tightening the restraints and then readying the gag. "So let me know if I'm doing this wrong."

Slowly Sakuya raised the knife up to the side of the man's cheek. He pulled back the locks of blue that cover half of his face. "Do you know how I got this scar?" the blade gently ran along the man's features, "I was battling a Swordsmen from one of the Cephiros."

"You-you've been to one of-"

Slash. For a few seconds there was no indication of even a scratch, and then the skin began to split. Blood formed and began to run down his face.

"I didn't say you could talk yet." 

There was silence.

"How many are there?"

"How many are what?" as soon as the worlds left his mouth, he instantly regretted it. He tightly shut his eyes and winced, expecting another harsh gash to appear.

"Cephiros. How many are there?"

"S-seven according to our sources." A bead of sweet trickled down his face and he was beginning to feel faint but dared not to pass out again. Who knew what this psycho-kid would do?

"I see. And your position?"

"R-reconnaissance."

Sakuya thought a moment frowned and then jammed the knife into the man's left thigh. Again a scream, "You're supposed to refuse to answer my questions."

The man was currently in far too much pain to respond. So the young man continued. "I'm supposed to question you. You're supposed to play dumb then I'm supposed to torture you. Isn't that how this game is played?"

"You think this is a game!?" The man spat.

Sakuya smiled. "That's correct. This is a game to me but right now, you're proving to be not all that entertaining."

The man gulped in fear, then hissed in pain.

"I'm becoming bored with you." Sakuya stood up, he grinned and all that could be heard over the soft music now playing were the tortured screams of a dieing man.

That had happened several days ago. 

The annoying, repetitive sound of his alarm clock blared in his ears, forcing him to stir. Wearily, Sakuya rolled over and looked over to his nightstand to find the bright red numbers flash from seven o'clock to seven o' one. He groaned and was about to get up when he remembered that there was no school today. So instead, he hit the snooze button and rolled back over. He heard the faint cry of a bird off in the distance. A moment later he felt a chill and figured he must have left his balcony door, open a crack. Then he felt a sinking feeling that he'd become all too familiar with. 

Sitting up he was not surprised in the least at who stood before him. His eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"I was board," The man began. His eyes watched Sakuya stand up and gather some clothing for him to change into. "So I decided to come and visit with one of my favorite pawns."

He clenched his teeth. It was bad enough that he knew he was Eagles pawn. The man really didn't have to come and throw it in his face. "Without the protective company of your lap dog?" He glared icily towards the blond.

"Now, now. How would Umi feel if she heard you refer to hear like that?" Eagle calmly questioned as he made his way over where Sakuya was. "And just why would I need a lap dog when I have a cute little puppy like you who'll do as I command."

That set him off. The gathered clothing fell to the carpet floor and with lightning quick speed he slammed Eagle up against a wall. His rage was barely controllable. His hands shook fiercely as he tightly held the delicate material of Eagle's outfit. "Don't mess with me!"

Eagle simply smiled under the young man's hold, "No look what you've done. You've wrinkled my outfit." He expression now mirrored malice as he easily overpowered the blue haired man in one swift motion. Before Sakuya knew what was happening, the floor underneath him fell away and he fell back. His wrists were being painfully bound together by the ends of the other man's cloak; which at the moment appeared to have a mind of its own. While Eagle himself straddled him down onto the bed in a rather suggestive manner. His one hand tightly held the boys neck making it hard for him to breathe.

Sakuya struggled for a few seconds before his body was subdued and went limp. He could hardly move; a sudden paralysis had seemed to overcome him. He felt his energy drain and he was now too weak to push the man off of him.

Eagle's cloak loosened its grip around Sakuya's now swelling wrists and reverted back to its former lifeless state. Eagles eyes bore into his. Their faces were mere centimeters away from each other.

"Know now that I tolerate you only for my beloved water dragon's sake. Were it not for her you'd be rotting away in some hellhole boy. You'd only be able to see the light of day when and if we ever required your… rather unique abilities." He smirked and loosened the hold he had around the young man's throat. He began to trace the contours of Sakuya's face. "Though you are in fact a Cephirian and of royal lineage, that Cephiro is tainted by the influences of disgusting Earthlings. Which in turn, taints your very existence." His eyes narrowed as his fingers delicately danced over the scar on Sakuya's cheek, before roughly slashing his finger nail over it. Reopening the recently healed wound. Sakuya sucked back a cry. Eagle raised his finger up to his mouth and tasted the blood that had gathered there and wrinkled his nose in revulsion. "I expect you to kill that little bitch you've been blindly chasing after as soon as possible." He said simply and raised himself off of the bed and headed towards the balcony. "Oh, and of course, feel free to knock off anymore other-worlders who just so happen to cross your path." 

Sakuya lye drenched in a cold sweat; still unable to move. By the time the paralysis had began to ware off, Eagle had vanished and in the far distance, he could just barely make a bird flying away.    __

Authors Notes: How'd ya like it? Okay, for readers of my Eagle/Geo fic, Surrender to Inevitabilities, and Just Visiting fic, I'm here to tell you, that I Have absolutely no idea when I'll be updating them. On a count of, I'm also working on Lantis' past story that's being made specifically for this fic. A possible other past fic that will be posted at the same time the Lantis one is. Uh… I've at least 2 other Rayearth fics that I'm currently working on and 4 more other anime fics (Which I am not ready to post yet.) That on top of schoolwork, chores, and anime/manga time equals… not a lot of time for updating. But never fear, it will be updated… One day…


	12. Lantis VS the Black Handled Razor Beware...

Chapter X: Lantis vs. the Black handled Razor; Beware the Shaving Cream!  
  
Stepping out from the draining tub, Lantis grabbed the two folded towels and quickly dried himself. He sighed. The bath was nice, but nothing compared to Cephiros. He smirked. For so many years he'd been away from Cephiro. Now on earth, he'd only been away for a very short time and he was beginning to feel a touch of homesickness. He wrapped one towel around his waist and the other; he used to dry his dripping, wet hair. The towel then found a temporary spot around his somewhat broad shoulders as he headed over to the bathroom sink. Looking down, he found a packaged black handled razor and a tall canister of what Hikaru had told him was a can of "shaving cream." There was something much like it in Autozam-though he, himself had never used it. Yet somehow an incident involving him and Autozams equivalent to shaving cream had occurred when he had stayed there and since then he'd always been leery around substances canned like that.  
  
Reaching down to the sink, Lantis picked up the razor and effortlessly tore off the slightly damp, cardboard packaging. After tossing the cardboard into the mini trashcan situated by his bare feet, he then proceeded to hold the tiny razor up at eye level to inspect the shaving tool. This is supposed to remove these chin whiskers-as Hikaru so liked to call them-of mine? Lantis wondered as his thumb brushed over the two blades. Stunned slightly, he dropped the razor and it clattered to the floor as his thumb welled with blood at the tip. The bright red liquid began to trickle down, "Note to self," he said as he sucked on the small cut. "Razors are sharper than they appear to be." Bending down, he picked up his fallen razor and as he rose, he bashed the back of his skull against the sink. "Damn it!" he uttered as he rubbed the throbbing spot.  
  
Resting the small razor by the canister, he picked up the can. After shaking it, he took off the cap and went to spray its contents into the palm of his upturned hand. There was a hissing sound, but nothing came out. He eyed it carefully and tried to pull the white tab that was stuck, when the cream sputtered and sprayed out in every direction. "F-" he began. Dropping the can and his hands flew up to his left eye where it burned. His one hand blindly fumbled with the sink's faucet and turned the cold water on to flush out his eye.  
  
Once flushed, he decided to re-rinse his hair and chest where the excess cream had sprayed on him.  
  
"Okay, let's try this again." He said as he bent down to grab the fallen can when some shaving cream suddenly shot out, forcing him to jerk and fall back. It was becoming painfully apparent that this wasn't his morning. He looked up towards the bathroom door, half expecting one of the younger Shidou brothers to be standing there, trying to stifle a chuckle. Luckily, no one was there. Thank whatever god had chosen to take pity on him. This was embarrassing, and rather uncharacteristic. He usually wasn't this clumsy. Standing up again, he slowly nudged the can away with his foot. Turning his attention towards the razor, he once again picked it up and quickly wiped away the fog on the mirror above the sink.  
  
Cupping his chin, Lantis held his face steadily close to the mirror and through the corner of his eyes, he watched as he hesitantly brought the shaving tool to his cheek, and slowly pulled the blade up as it touched his smooth skin.  
  
He flinched as he felt the two blades cut into his skin for not the first time that morning. "Ow." He repeated the movement. "Ow," another small cut appeared. "ow." He was starting to get frustrated now. "Ow." He held the handle and glared at it as if he could magically make the small object stop cutting him. His grip tightened and he accidentally forced too much pressure at the head, causing it to snap off. He sighed. Picking up the blade he resumed. "Ow."  
  
There was a knock. "Hey Lan? You okay?" It was Kakeru. He opened the door and entered the washroom. He stopped when he caught sight of Lantis in his pitiful and the even more pitiful state of the man's surroundings then asked, "What the heck have you been doing in here?"  
  
Trying to keep a straight face Masaru took a close look at Lantis. "Kakeru, what on earth have you done to the poor guy?" Currently, Lantis looked like a mummy who had been wrapped horribly in toilet paper, and there were small patches of the wrapping, which were blood stained. He was too afraid to directly ask how Lan had ended up bleeding.  
  
"I didn't do anything! He kept cutting himself with his razor-by the way, we're gonna have ta get him a new one 'cause he busted up the one we just gave him. It's just easier to cover up the cuts this way, rather than tear a billion tiny little squares and try to stick them on his face. Oh, yeah. We need to buy more shaving cream, he busted the canister too."  
  
"What the- Oh that's just great."  
  
"My face hurts." He said as he sat quietly at the table.  
  
"Hey Masaru." Kakaru whispered. He walked quietly behind Lantis and made rabbit ears. "Because he's wrapped up in the toilet paper, he can't tell what I'm doing."  
  
"I can still here you know."  
  
"Wah!"  
  
"Oi, Kakeru. Sometimes you can be really dumb."  
  
Just then Hikaru came waltzing into the kitchen. "Has anyone seen Hikari's." She looked at Lantis, then at her two brothers and just stood there for a moment. "Uh. Did I miss something?"  
  
"Morning," was all Lantis said. "If you're looking for Hikari's leash, you left it outside."  
  
Glancing down at his digital watch Masaru suddenly let out a high- pitched cry. "Shimata! I'm going to be late for work!" He quickly scooped the remaining rice into his mouth, pulled the milk out of the fridge and began drinking it.  
  
"Use a glass onii-sama!" Hikaru scolded.  
  
After swallowing some he slammed the carton down and let out an exasperated cry of disgust. "Don't drink the milk," he choked before rushing off.  
  
"Hey, Masaru, wait! You forgot something!" Kakeru yelled as he ran to catch his brother before he ran out the door.  
  
Hikaru went over and inspected the milk. She grimaced. "Well that's no longer any good." She stated as she began pouring the spoilt contents down the drain. She then went over to Lantis, giggled, and began unwrapping him. "So how did you end up wrapped in toilet paper?" After removing some of it, she was able to see his nicked face, some spots still bleeding. "Never mind. I think I know why."  
  
Lantis frowned. "I don't like shaving." With that he tore off the remaining toilet paper.  
  
Again she giggled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."  
  
He playfully groaned and she continued. "Oh common, it's not that bad is it?"  
  
He sighed, "I suppose not."  
  
"Baka!" The two heard Kakeru call in the near distance.  
  
"Oh, Shut up Kakeru! Who asked you?" Masaru had shouted back.  
  
"You have very interesting siblings." he began. "I think they're rubbing off on me a little."  
  
"Uh. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."  
  
"I'm not sure either."  
  
"Neh, Lantis?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Would you like to come along with Hikari and me for a walk? Since you came here, you haven't really been out much and I'm sure a guy like you likes to get out and walk around, see knew places, familiarize yourself with your surroundings."  
  
"I'm not a dog you know."  
  
"I-I didn't mean to imply- I mean-"  
  
"It's not a big deal. Shall we go? I'm sure Hikari is waiting."  
  
Her eyes lit up. "Yeah!" She grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the chair and headed out the back door.  
  
Authors Notes: Sort of a humorous chapter. This originally started out as a joke about Lantis having a fear of shaving cream that my friend and I were making up and well; it sorta made its way into the fic. I know so far this story hasn't really earned its rating, but that's for future chapters where I suspect that a PG thirteen rating wouldn't be appropriate. However, I think I might bump down the rating for a while. 


	13. Suspiscious Man

Beads of sweat trickled down Satoru's face, he sliced through the morning air with his katana, executing a number of fluent, expert moves. Today he'd cancelled his classes; to take a day off from kendo-how ironic it was that for the entire morning thus far all he'd done was train. He stood still a moment as he contemplated what to do next, and then went into his trade stance. He moved perfectly, attacking his invisible targets accurately, his footwork, just as important as his pretend attacks if not more so. He liked using the katana. It was a good weight and had a better feel than the shinai or the bokken.  
  
He stopped. Deciding that he'd trained enough-for at least the time being. There was work around the house to be done and he couldn't rightly shove it all on his baby sister. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and sheathed his sword into the scabbard. He stretched, cracking his back and again wiped away more sweat.  
  
The eldest Shidou heard the enthusiastic dog barks and looked in the direction from which they came only to find Lantis stroking the dog's head as he leashed him. Lantis stood and the dog wagged its tail happily and barked again.  
  
"Hello? Satoru-niisama?" Came his little sister's voice and he looked down. "I said we're taking Hikari off for his walk."  
  
"What? Who? Oh, you and. Lantis, yes?" He looked back up at the black haired man who was now playing with Hikari. "Just the two of you?"  
  
"That's okay right?"  
  
Satoru paused a moment. "Hikaru."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
He sighed. I'm just being over protective. He told himself, he didn't want to deal with this right now. "Unless you can give me a reason, why you shouldn't go out, I see no reason why it wouldn't be okay."  
  
Hikaru looked both concerned and worried. "Is there something wrong Satoru- niisama?"  
  
"No. I suppose not. Excuse me," and with that, he headed towards his house to shower. I'm just being over protective. He told himself again. Hikaru doesn't like boys like that, and if Lantis were a danger to her, Hikari certainly wouldn't be affectionate towards him. Still. he's quite the curious man.  
  
"In this world, it takes a lot more energy and concentration. Calm your mind and focus only on me." Lantis instructed, Hikaru complied. Currently they were seated on the grass in a somewhat quiet section of the park. Hikari lye sleeping close by, exhausted from previously playing with both his master and the raven-haired man.  
  
The young woman's eyes closed and again she concentrated, and that's when she felt something light flutter onto her hair. She opened one eye slowly then the other. She lifted her hand and he heard a crunch sound.  
  
Lantis opened his eyes and sighed when he found Hikaru playing with a crushed leaf. "Hikaru."  
  
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry."  
  
He thought a moment. She looked down at her palm and brushed it away then wiped her hands on her pants. "Were you at least trying?"  
  
"Yes. But it wasn't working."  
  
"What were you thinking about?"  
  
She smiled brightly, "Ice cream!"  
  
He gave her a strange look then shook his head. "Do you want to try again?" She nodded.  
  
Again they tried and again they failed.  
  
Hikaru sighed, "This is really tiring." Her shoulders slumped. She had a touch of fatigue.  
  
Lantis simply cracked his neck. He then stood up stretched and sat back down again. "Let's stop. We're getting nowhere."  
  
"Agreed." She whistled and Hikari instantly awoke, perking his ears up, he then walked over to them and sat down. Hikaru happily patted him and he returned her affections by licking her face.  
  
"We should probably get going. I'm sure your brothers will have expected us back by now."  
  
"Oh, okay." She re-leashed Hikari.  
  
Lantis stood again, took a step forward and held out his hand for her to take as she stood up. When she took it, he suddenly felt an intense felling, and when she stood and released herself from his grasp, the feeling went away. She began to walk and he grabbed her arm.  
  
"Wah!"  
  
"Are you hungry?" he asked.  
  
"How'd you know?"  
  
"Think of something."  
  
"Think of what?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"We already tried this."  
  
"Just do it."  
  
He continued to hold her and he felt it again. A thought. "That's not a very healthy lunch."  
  
"What isn't?"  
  
"The food you're wanting to eat."  
  
"How'd-"  
  
"Apparently it only works if we're in physical contact with each other."  
  
"Huh?" She looked down at the hand firmly around her arm. Suddenly she could feel his thoughts as well and when he released her, she began to laugh.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"We spent all that time trying to communicate with each other without saying anything, and here all we had to do was hold hands.  
  
He thought about that for a moment. That was kinda funny. He felt her take his hand again and again he felt her thoughts. 'Shall we go?' He gave her hand a squeeze and sent his confirming thought to her.  
  
Authors Notes: Nothing much to say other than in the next chapter we get back on track a little. I'm in the process of typing it up so I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to get around to posting it. 


	14. Chapter XII The Colonelization Project

In the world in which the deity of water currently resided, approximately two years had passed since she'd received the order to assist the military.  
  
It had been two years of war and constant attacks on this realm. They'd attacked Cephiro first, then they'd split their forces to also invade Chizeta, Fahren and Autozam. Chizeta had fallen under their control first. Cephiro and Fahren fell around the same time shortly after. Surprisingly enough, it was the polluted and already, naturally, decaying world of Autozam that had held them at bay, and for the longest of time.  
  
Autozam had had the advantage of technology over the faction of the Organization. That had been expected though. They'd only been able to transfer so many weapons at the time... When they'd finally been able to gain victory over the Autozams, their first objective had been achieved: the realms capture. Then came the second part of their mission.  
  
Simultaneously, violent and most merciless attacks were launched against the already conquered countries and as anticipated, when all four planets had been pushed to the brink of destruction, desperate measures on the people's behalf had taken place. Resulting in what had been their true objective in the beginning of this war: the birth of a new merged world.  
  
Night had fallen about an hour ago over the towering, building that was now neither Cephiro's crystal palace, nor the famous Tokyo tower. It was both and it was where the remaining Organization's soldiers had set up base. She was now headed to the closest thing that could be called a bedroom room: her temporary sleeping quarters. Most soldiers all slept in the one main and most stable area which once was the observation deck, and what their sources had told, the main chamber of the Palace. For one reason or another, she didn't like that area and thus crept off and found herself a secret room in which she'd been considering her room as of late.  
  
Her room was very poorly lit. And if one really focused one's eyes, one would see that the Cephirian architecture was overlain with the old cement and steel used to build Tokyo Tower.  
  
She walked over to her bed and reached inside her pillow case where she kept a small diary and retrieved it. She flipped through the pages until she'd come to a blank page and began, logging in everything that had happened since the last time she'd done so. For the past two years, she'd been writing in the small book and before that, there had been another diary she'd written in. Umi smirked; she was beginning to build up a collection of herself. She'd already transferred five years of her life into two other diaries. Soon to be three and within another year, most likely four. When she'd finished, she'd set her pen down and reread what she'd written, and she wondered for not the first time, why she bothered. It wasn't like anything overly interesting ever happened to her. And most of what she'd witnessed or taken part in were not what those in their right frame of mind would care to remember.  
  
Umi slid her diary back into her pillow case. Then she rooted through her belongings for her night apparel. She set the clothing down then stood to undress.  
  
Once her clothing was off; she folded the uniform and placed it where she always placed dirty clothing of hers. When she turned back around, she discovered her clothing to be gone. She blinked a moment. I could have sworn I just set out a nightgown. She shrugged and went to get another.  
  
"Don't bother. You won't be in need of them for a while."  
  
Umi paused in mid movement. She knew that voice anywhere and she was glad to finally hear it after so long. "Eagle."  
  
"Hello my dear." He said gently as he walked up behind her. He wasn't wearing his complex layers of clothing, but merely the white shirt and pants that were worn underneath. He walked over to her. "It's been a while and I'm afraid I've become impatient from waiting."  
  
"How long has it been?" She asked as he moved her shimmering azure hair to the side and began kissing along the side of her neck and shoulder.  
  
"Around a week or so, where your boy lives and a fair bit longer where I reside."  
  
"It's been two years for me."  
  
His hands ran over her hips, "two years? Has it really been that long? Your body would have the audacity to say not even a day."  
  
She smirked. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Always so serious and to the point," he commented as he continued to reacquaint himself with her. "Is that what makes me desire you so?"  
  
Umi quietly moaned under Eagle as she was guided by him to the bed.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She asked again.  
  
He grinned down at her. She ran her fingers through his silvery bangs. They paused temporarily over his lips, parting them slightly. He kissed them. "Just passing through, I suppose you could say. I've been checking up on all my pawns and I thought I'd visit with you as well my dear."  
  
"What of Sakuya?" Her fingers began to work on his clothing, removing his jacket-like shirt as best she could in her current position. She then gazed over his chest and marveled at its perfection, as she almost always did. Her lord had an over all faultless physique. Not surprising, when one took into account that he was the equivalent to that of a-dare she be so clichéd as to say Greek God.  
  
He removed the rest of his clothing.  
  
"Must we speak now of such things? I'd much prefer all of your attention elsewhere." He whispered into her ear as he began his renewed onslaught of caresses.  
  
Her legs came to wrap around him as did her arms. Her chin rested against his shoulder, "As you wish my Lord."  
  
Authors notes: It's been a while since I updated. I had to keep rewriting this chapter 'cause I didn't like how it was originally. Plus this wasn't supposed to be chapter XII, but do to someone insisting that I pull my focus onto these two characters, I did. Thank you all, who have reviewed this fic. It's much appreciated and I hope that my future chapters will be better than my previous ones. 


	15. A Medium Strawberry and We'll go from Th...

Chapter: XIII  
A Medium, Strawberry, and We'll go From There. . .  
  
"So many flavors. . . It's hard to choose. . ."  
  
"Hikaru," Umi huffed, "Just hurry up and pick one already!"  
  
"But I can't decide. You pick it for me."  
  
"Fine," she snapped, "This one."  
  
"But I had Chocolate Mint the last time I was here."  
  
Umi glanced over the various assortments of ice cream and tasted the milkshake that she had opted to buy, "Then how about Cookie Dough?"  
  
"May I have one double scoop of Strawberry please?" Hikaru asked the women behind the counter. She then quickly added. "In a bowl. . . Not a cone." Then as an after thought, she also said, "please".  
  
"Or you can ignore what I said." Umi took another sip of her shake as Hikaru made her purchase.  
  
"Thank you." The red head said with enthusiasm.  
  
Upon leaving the shop, the question of their next destination came up and it was decided that they would browse through a few clothing shops near by and then perhaps head over to the Ryuuzaki house hold.  
  
Licking at the melting ice cream, Hikaru asked "How long before Fuu comes back?"  
  
Umi thought a moment, "It shouldn't be too long now. She left what? Roughly a month before Lantis appeared? That makes it the end of next month that she'll be back-or maybe the start of the month after that. At any rate, I'll ask her the next time I'm in my e-mail account."  
  
Finishing her ice cream, Hikaru threw her plastic bowl and spoon into a nearby garbage can.  
  
"Finished already?"  
  
Hikaru turned and nodded. "Yup," she licked her lips. They were slightly sticky, a result from the ice cream she had so enjoyed.  
  
"You've got some of it on your chin." Umi announced. Yet another sip was taken of her milkshake. She lifted the lid and peered inside; half of the thick liquid remained.  
  
Hikaru wiped her chin with her hand. "Did I get it?"  
  
"Nope. Didn't you grab a few napkins before we left?"  
  
"No. I didn't think I'd need them."  
  
Umi groaned. "Thinking you don't need a napkin? That's like thinking you don't need air to breathe."  
  
"I'm sorry. Now did I get it?"  
  
Umi shook her head then unzipped one of the small compartments of her school bag. She retrieved her package of Kleenex, and pulled out a single tissue. It was better than nothing. After putting the package away she took a step towards Hikaru, covering the short distance between them. "Here, hold still."  
  
Hikaru's hand came up to stop Umi's as the tissue made contact. "It's okay. I can do myself."  
  
"It's done now." She said, retracting her hand. "H-Hey."  
  
Hikaru skipped a few feet ahead of Umi; milkshake in hand.  
  
"Give it back that's mine!"  
  
"What? I want to try it."  
  
"You could at least ask first, y'know."  
  
Hikaru shrugged, and was just about to take a sip when Umi commented, "drink it then. But don't wear it."  
  
Hikaru grinned, and rather than drinking from the straw, as she had intended, she took off the lid and drank straight from the cup.  
  
Irritation crossed over Umi's face as Hikaru handed back her drink and smiled at her with a milkshake mustache. "Hikaru!"  
  
A few passers by, had turned their heads at Umi's out burst.  
  
"What?" she asked innocently.  
  
"You know exactly what!"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said as she licked away what she could of the milkshake and wiped the rest with her hand.  
  
Umi downed the rest of her shake and ran at Hikaru.  
  
"Woa!" Hikaru too broke into a run as Umi chased her down the street. When she'd finally caught up with the red head, she began tickling her sides.  
  
"Wah! No-ho-ho-ho Stop. . . please!" She wriggled away from Umi with a bit of a pant.  
  
"Hey, do you want to go in?" Umi asked, as she gestured towards the bookstore several feet away.  
  
"I thought we were going clothing shopping."  
  
"You don't want to go in?"  
  
"Let's go." She said, taking a step forward.  
  
Loopy Hikaru; Umi shrugged and followed her. Once inside they went off in different directions. The Water Knight briefly glanced through the fiction section, picked up several books only to put them back feeling disappointed in how the first few pages read. She browsed through the section of foreign literature which of course, was translated, and later found herself scanning through various Japanese to English dictionaries and a few fairly comprehensive looking English grammar books.  
  
Every so often Maxwell; would revert to speaking English-specifically when she really aggravated him. Which, depending on how one looked at it; was a good thing. Especially when one considered that, though she was struggling with the course this year, she really did have an interest for the language and was planning on majoring in English when she entered into her post secondary schooling. Perhaps her minor would be World History, or maybe Business. That would probably be best. . . She could pick up some words and a couple simple sentences that Maxwell spoke, but it was hard to follow what he was saying when he went into a rant and started speaking fast, or in slang. She wanted a better dictionary then the one she had- which, for someone who so fancied English, was only a standard book.  
  
"Thought I'd find you here."  
  
"Huh?" Umi looked up to see Hikaru. "Oh, yeah."  
  
"Did you find anything interesting?"  
  
"A book on the French Revolution-I don't think I'll buy it though. How about you?"  
  
"A Book of Five Rings-"  
  
"Why would you need that? I thought your family already owned a copy."  
  
"Ours is falling apart, so I thought I'd pick up a newer version. I also found a few kendo books that I thought some of our students might be interested in flipping through."  
  
"Anything for you?"  
  
"A samurai graphic novel," She held it up for Umi to see.  
  
"For you?"  
  
"Well, and for Kakeru."  
  
"I thought so."  
  
"Just about ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah. I think I'll buy a grammar book, a dictionary and forgo clothes shopping. Are you okay with that?"  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
They made their purchases and exited the store.  
  
"Oh, Umi? Can we stop when we near a phone booth? I should call home. I didn't tell anyone that I was going to be out with you after school."  
  
"How could you? We just sort of crossed paths and went off from there."  
  
"Still."  
  
"I'll keep my eyes out. I'd let you use my cell, but Maxwell somehow got a hold of it and drained the batteries playing games."  
  
"You left it lying around again didn't you?"  
  
"Shut up," she said coldly. Her attitude then pulled a one-eighty. "Anyway, what are we going to do for Fuu when she comes back?"  
  
"A Party! A Party!" Hikaru chimed. "Let's hold a party for her at my house!"  
  
"Well, that's one suggestion."  
  
"No, it's the only suggestion."  
  
"What if I want the party at my house? It might make more sense, don't you think? At your house it will go something like this: 'Welcome back Fuu'- Eeeeiaaaa Meeeeennnn!!!" Umi motioned to attack the head of her made up target.  
  
"Your footwork's all wrong."  
  
"That's not the point! I doubt Fuu or I would care to listen to your kendo classes screaming at the top of their lunges for three hours."  
  
"You've got a point. . . okay, we'll have the welcome back party at your house." Hikaru announced. "I kind of wish we could pick Fuu up at the air port though."  
  
"Phone booth."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Over there."  
  
"I'll be back in a minute."  
  
"Sure." Umi waited patiently as Hikaru made her call.  
  
"Okay, we can go." The red head declared after hanging up the receiver and joining Umi.  
  
"Who did you get on the line?"  
  
"Masaru."  
  
"I thought he'd be working by this time."  
  
"He doesn't go in until eight tonight I don't think."  
  
"Another late night for him I guess. How does he manage it? Going to University and juggling a job at the same time. . . I don't think I could do it and I'm in high school."  
  
"He's too stubborn to let Satoru nii-sama worry about money on his own so he tries to keep himself from being a drain on the family by contributing what he can, while also saving up about half what he makes. It's a bit admirable don't you think?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"But then Satoru nii-sama starts to worry that Masaru will burn out-which every so often he does and he ends up either quitting or getting fired. Then when he gets back on his feet and back on track with his studies, he goes and applies for part-time work again."  
  
"Starting the grueling process all over again," Umi added.  
  
Hikaru nodded. "But he's kept this one for a while now."  
  
"Oh? How long has he been working there for?"  
  
"Four or five months I think."  
  
"And what exactly is his job?"  
  
"He works for a catering company. Because of his line of work, the hours and amount time he works per week fluctuates quite a bit. They're fairly well known though, so Masaru usually works at least once a week. But sometimes he's called in three or four times."  
  
"Hmmm." was all Umi said in response.  
  
"It works for him and when there are leftovers; Masaru generally brings whatever he can manage home for us."  
  
Conversation fell onto another topic soon after and it wasn't long before they'd made their way over to a train station.  
  
"I had a strange dream a few nights ago," Hikaru said as they made their way over to the appropriate platform.  
  
"Me too."  
  
"What was yours about Umi?"  
  
Umi shook her head. "You go first."  
  
"Satoru and I opened up a noodle hut off the eastern coast for some reason. And some restaurant owner kept throwing sushi at me."  
  
"Okay. . ."  
  
"That's not all. At one point, it turned into this portable oil rig, thing that started sinking with us on it. You were cutting a picture out of a credit card and you said, 'this better work or I'm going to be really pissed' 'cause you wanted to swipe it through one of those machines" she made wild hand gestures as she said this.  
  
"That sounds like something I'd say."  
  
"And someone kept saying 'up'."  
  
Umi checking to see if the train was coming; she could see two parallel lights down the tunnel.  
  
"Is it coming?" Umi nodded. When it arrived, the two girls waited for several passengers to get off, before they stepped on. Shortly after that, the doors closed and the train resumed its travel.  
  
"So," Hikaru began as she looked through the nearby window which was about a meter away from where she currently stood. "What was your dream about?"  
  
Umi was quiet for a moment. "My dream. . ." she was hesitant to say anything. A few nights ago she'd had several dreams but the one which stood out the most and the one with images periodically playing in her head was the one where a rather naked, and somewhat older version of herself was getting hot and heavy with a man who bore a striking resemblance to the Autozam commander-two years deceased. She strained to remember her other dreams. Perhaps she could omit talking about her erotic one. Umi decided to start over. "It started with me sitting in my classroom- actually, it wasn't but it was supposed to be."  
  
"Uh, huh. I know what you mean. It happens to me all the time-when I'm dreaming."  
  
"You were sitting at the desk in front of mine and you kept turning around to talk to me. When the bell rang we got up and left, so I guess it was supposed to be the end of that school day, but once we stepped through the door, we were suddenly in Tokyo tower only you weren't there anymore." She paused when the train slowed to a stop; being that Hikaru and her were obstructing the other passengers' way the two girls had to shuffle about so they could pass.  
  
"You were saying?" Hikaru asked.  
  
"I-"  
  
A girl looking about the same age as the Water Knight had bumped into her. "I'm sorry, I lost my balance."  
  
Umi's attention fell onto the girl, "It's alright."  
  
The girl stared at her and Umi began to feel uncomfortable. The girl noticed, "Oh, I'm sorry, but you are Captain Ryuuzaki Umi aren't you?"  
  
Umi blinked, "Do I know you?"  
  
"Yes, I was a member of the fencing team in our junior high school. I'm Yoko Izumi"  
  
"Yoko? Wait you had to leave the fencing team or something right?"  
  
"We moved because my father lost his job. I wound up attending a public school for a while."  
  
"How are you doing now?"  
  
"Good."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it. Do you still fence?"  
  
"No."  
  
"That's too bad-Oh, I almost forgot. Let me introduce you to Shidou Hikaru."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the two strangers politely chorused.  
  
Hikaru faded into the background as Umi and Izumi conversed for much of the train ride. Thus, she busied herself with the comics section of a newspaper that someone had left on one of the seats.  
  
"Shit!" The cry startled Hikaru as well as several other people.  
  
The red head looked up from her paper. "Aiya," she said as several pages slipped out onto the floor. She scrambled to pick them up and Umi kneeled down to help her.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"My stop was two stations back!" Izumi glanced down at her watch, "I'm going to be late! Damn it." the train came to its next stop.  
  
"I'm sorry," Umi said as she righted herself. "I didn't mean to distract you."  
  
"Thanks Umi," Hikaru said quickly into her ear as she stood up.  
  
"It's okay, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. It was nice to see you again Captain. Good luck with your next match, bye!" Umi waved after Izumi as she dashed off.  
  
The doors closed and their transportation was once again on the move.  
  
The rest of the voyage was relatively quiet. The two girls chatted leisurely but the topic of Umi's dream was untouched. Mainly due to the interruption of Umi's former team mate; the discussion had slipped Hikaru's mind and when it was questioned what they'd previously been chatting about, Umi had made no attempt at reminding her fellow Knight.  
  
Upon reaching the Ryuuzaki residence, conversation had fallen, for not the first time, onto Hikaru's beau. Questions such as how things were going between her and Lantis had snowballed into more personal inquiries to which Hikaru would have preferred they not delve into. Unfortunately for her, Umi was particularly interested in regards to the subject and she knew that to attempt to change the topic would be rather fruitless.  
  
They were now walking up the stairs leading to Umi's room, where their little discussion continued.  
  
"How far have we come along?" Hikaru repeated. She had taken a seat at the edge of Umi's bed.  
  
"Have the two of you, Y'know-" her back was to Hikaru as she said this fore she was putting her purchases away.  
  
Hikaru's eyes widened and her head shook furiously from side to side with a deep blush.  
  
"He'd be a dead man if you guys had." Umi said not all that gravely.  
  
"You sound like you almost want us to."  
  
Umi grabbed her desk's chair and dragged it over, where Hikaru was and sat down a few feet away from her, "If you stay with the guy I assume it will be inevitable."  
  
Hikaru nervously laughed at that. "Well later on down the road I suppose we will when we get married or something."  
  
"Married huh? So you'll be Mrs. . . uh, He doesn't have a last name. . .we could always make up one I guess."  
  
"I thought you already gave him a last name."  
  
"I was joking around with that. No, he needs a real last name- or I guess we could always give him yours."  
  
"Well I don't need to worry about that anytime soon now do I?"  
  
"Should I put on some music?"  
  
Hikaru nodded. Umi stood up and walked over to her CD collection. "Any preferences?"  
  
"No. Whatever's fine."  
  
"Have the two of you ever talked about where you want to go with your relationship?"  
  
Hikaru thought a moment, "no, not really." Music started to play as Umi grabbed her comb and headed back over to where she was. "What's there for us to talk about? We already know how we feel about each other, so what would be the point?"  
  
Umi shook her head. "Take out your braid; I'll comb your hair."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
"What am I going to do with you Hikaru?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"If you don't talk to Lantis, how will you know how serious he wants to get? Maybe he won't want to make a life time commitment to you. Not all guys are like my father."  
  
Hikaru dismissed Umi's comments, "I'm not worried about that."  
  
"Nonetheless, you should still talk to him about stuff like that."  
  
"When? My brothers are almost always around, it's a little difficult. And constantly walking around with his hand held in mine would be conspicuous."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Didn't I tell you? Sometimes Lantis and I can communicate with each other without speaking. Sort of like telepathy only we need to be in physical contact with each other. And it's not so much that we can hear each others thoughts, but rather we can feel each others emotions." Hikaru announced, looking quite proud of herself.  
  
Umi stopped combing through the crimson sea of tangles. "Oh, really? And when did you come to discover this?"  
  
"Not that long ago."  
  
Umi's palm came over Hikaru's forehead. "Getting anything?"  
  
"Hmmm. . . no."  
  
Umi resumed combing, "Maybe it only works if one of you is Cephirian."  
  
Hikaru shrugged.  
  
"So, how are you enjoying your stay in Tokyo?" asked Kakeru. He was currently assembling the right arm from his recently bought model kit.  
  
"It's alright." He said as he looked through the small manual of his model kit. Squinted several time only to say, "Forget it, I'll just wing it."  
  
Kakeru snatched Maxwell's manual. "Having trouble reading it?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Because of the kanji Max?" he'd taken to the shortened version of Maxwell's name.  
  
"There's hiragana too though. I think it's mostly because I need to get my eyes checked. I've been straining my eyes to see clearly and I think that's why I've been having head aches off and on."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"I think I'll ask Mrs. Ryuuzaki if she could set up an appointment for me with an optometrist."  
  
"Probably a good idea," Kakeru replied as he snapped together another piece. "Do you paint the mecha when you finish building it?"  
  
"No. not usually," he went to work on the mid section of his model.  
  
"Oh? Why's that?"  
  
Maxwell shrugged. "Too much of a hassle, I guess. Not to mention, my painting skills aren't all that great."  
  
"When you go, leave it here. I'll get Masaru to do it. He used to collect mecha model kits from various series so he's become fairly good at painting them."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"Yeah, I don't have 'the artist's eye' either, so I usually have him paint mine anyway, so he won't mind too much I don't think."  
  
For a while, nothing much was said between the two of them.  
  
"Shit." Kakeru uttered; at last breaking the silence.  
  
This drew the other young man's attention. He looked up from his work on the small plastic body. "What's wrong?"  
  
"The thing broke off in the leg and now it won't properly connect to the lower body. See."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"I'll have to glue it into place- good thing this isn't a transformer." He went over to his desk and searched the draws. "Maybe Masaru's got some of that Cement Glue in his room. . .I'll be back in a minute."  
  
"Shortly after Kakeru left, Maxwell heard the phone ringing in the near distance. It stopped and within a minute, an older Shidou-Satoru came and informed him that who ever had called, called for him.  
  
Maxwell followed Satoru out into the kitchen where a diner was currently in the process of being prepared. He went over to the phone as Satoru tended to the stove, Kakeru entered the kitchen just as he was about to speak to the person on the other end of the line.  
  
"Hello? Oh, hello Mrs. Ryuuzaki. I'm doing quite well thank you. . .yes. . .yes okay."  
  
Kakeru walked over to the fridge and retrieved a jug of juice. He looked to Maxwell and gestured to it. Maxwell nodded. Thus Kakeru poured two glasses.  
  
"Diner? When will it be?" He took the glass from Kakeru. "When he returns from work. . . which will be? Oh, alright then." He took a quick sip as he listened to her. "I'll be back shortly. Okay. Yeah. Good bye."  
  
"You have to leave soon?"  
  
Maxwell nodded. "Actually, it's probably best if I go now."  
  
"I'll walk you up the road."  
  
"Good," Satoru interrupted. "Then you can take Hikari out for Hikaru."  
  
"Satoru," Kakeru whined. "Why do I have to. Why can't Masaru do it? Or Lan?"  
  
"You are going out anyway. Why not take him?"  
  
"I'm not going to get out of this am I."  
  
"I doubt it."  
  
"Fine, fine."  
  
Hikari's tail wagged enthusiastically and as usual, Kakeru had a bit of trouble controlling the dog. "Easy boy," he'd said several times. The dog kept swerving from one side of the sidewalk to the other and wrapped his leash around Kakeru's once already.  
  
"Can I walk him?" Maxwell asked. He took the leash from Kakeru and he ended up getting dragged a bit by Hikari; he seemed to be enjoying himself though.  
  
"Wish I had a dog, my mom's allergic to animal fur though, so I can't." He announced, once they'd hit the bottom of the street. He gave Hikari a pat on the head and handed the leash back to Kakeru. "I'll see you later okay?"  
  
Kakeru nodded, "see ya." With that, Maxwell headed off.  
  
Authors Note: This chapter has certainly been a long time coming. See the problem was, that I'd start writing this chapter but then I wouldn't like how it was turning out so I'd scrap the idea. In actuality, I've writing chapter 13 about six times. Sigh. . . but it's finally here so be happy. You will be happy!  
  
(Check out my Bio for more info on Cross and other fics)  
  
"A Book of Five Rings" is a book written by Miyamoto Musashi a very publicized historical figure of feudal Japan. The tale of this man can be read in the manga "Vagabond" which is currently being published by viz, you can also read the novel that is about him which is titled simply "Musashi", there also is or was a television series about him that started up several months ago in Japan. . . 


	16. Hostilities

(Author's Notes: Oi. What's it been? A year? I'm so awful. - Anyway, somehow I've fallen back into my Rayearth craze, with any luck it'll stick around long enough for me to turn out the next chapter. That's more, less all I've got to say on the matter. Within the next week I'll probably also post the next chapter of Mechanical Wings so all you GxE fans can be happy. I know a lot of you think I've taken the story in a rather bazaar and not very GxE direction but, don't worry it'll get back on track eventually. Just wait. Both you and Geo.)

* * *

Cross: Chapter XIV

Hostilities

The commander of the NSX Geo Metro stood bathed in the bright rays of the morning sun. He kneeled and placed an assortment of wildflowers by the grave marker and after a moment, stood again. "Sorry I haven't visited you lately. . . Been busy Y'know. We were shorthanded and I ended up one of the grunt workers for the Coliseum modifications. Boy that wasn't fun. Especially with Zazu being the assistant director of the whole ordeal."

He stretched and took in a deep breath. "There's something about this world," he sighed. "Sets you at ease." He surveyed his surroundings. The sky was clear and the "Field of Vision" as Eagle's death site had been dubbed, was a vibrant sea of green grass. Only the odd piece of mechanical wreckage tarnished the lovely view. "It's hard to believe this country was teetering on the brink of destruction not all that long ago. It's too bad you never got the chance to see Cephiro for it's true worth. Lantis' description didn't do it justice."

Deciding he'd been here long enough, Geo took a seat beside the grave. "Did I tell you about Lantis? He disappeared not long ago," he said with some gloom. "The only knowledge of what's happened to him is based off of the interpretations of some bizarre Cephirian creature. Oh, but I'm sure he's fine," he quickly added. He imagined the worried look on his former commander's face, knowing that that would be how Eagle would feel right now were he still alive. "Knowing him he's probably getting on decently."

After several moments Geo spoke again, "I was really shocked when I first heard about it. I don't know the details. . . But, I hear that the Captain of the Inner Guard has been running errands for the Master Mage, and the rumor that I heard through the grapevine is that the old Guru has been looking into Inter-dimensional Transportation. . .I don't know for certain though so. . . I wonder if it's possible-well obviously it's possible because the Magic Knight's hail from another dimension right? So do their Mashin, I'm just wondering if we can do it though." He let out a bit of a sardonic laugh, "Remember the crazy theories we had to study back in our school days?"

His little reminiscence was cut short when his communicator sounded.

"Geo! Geo!" It was Zazu.

Geo answered. "I'm here, I'm here. What do you want?"

"We're getting ready to take off. If you want a ride to the coliseum, then get your but over here."

"Oi, wait for me. I'll be back in thirty."

"You'd better be or we're leaving without you."

Geo was starting to get annoyed. "I get it all ready. I'll be there, so shut your trap."

He clicked off his communicator and put it away. Once again he looked to Eagle's grave marker. "Well buddy, looks like this is where I take off. I'll come by again real soon. I promise."

* * *

Fuu removed her glasses and messaged her temples. She'd been working on reports for several hours straight. It couldn't be helped though. On top of listening in on her exchange student's classes and doing the class work assigned, she also had her studies from home to deal with. For each week she'd been out of Japan, her teachers had sent her the work she'd missed and likewise, she'd done her best to stay on top of things and e-mail the completed work back to her teachers. It took time and was stressful, even for her.

By rights, she probably could have gotten away with only working on some of it- or none at all. It wasn't really compulsory for her to complete the assignments seeing as she possessed such high marks, but, she didn't marvel at the thought of falling behind, even in the slightest and so she pushed on enduring and completing all of her schoolwork.

"Fuu? You almost finished?" She turned, replacing her glasses. If she wasn't mistaken his name was Vaughn. He was twenty three and holding down a part time job. From what she'd gathered, he'd dropped out of college in his second year and did little for the family. He didn't impress her much but she kept that to herself.

"I've just sent everything I needed to, so I can reave now if you like." Fuu chirped.

He made his way over to the computer. "Great, cuz I'm suffering Ever Quest withdrawal."

He pushed by Fuu and plopped himself down on the chair.

"I'm leaving then," Fuu said once she'd gotten to the threshold.

He grunted in response.

It felt good to be out of the computer's chair. She made her way over to the kitchen mostly for the sake of the walk. The family's cat came scurrying by; hissing at Fuu as it headed to the kitchen. There were sounds of an electric can opener hard at work as she neared the room and when she entered, she found Terry, the girl who had also signed up for the foreign exchange. The cat stood watching intently meowing and whining as it waited for its meal. Pulling back the lid of the small can, and Terry scooped some of its contents into the small dish by her feet. The cat sniffed, licked the food and went on to feed.

Covering the can and returning it to its rightful place, she finally noticed Fuu. "Oh, hey. Finish your work?"

Fuu nodded, "Yes. Sorry to have taken so rong."

"Do you still want to come along with me and Mini to the movies?"

Mini was Terry's best friend. Fuu had met her when she began attending Terry's high school. From what she'd been told, the girl had been born and raised for a little over half of her child hood in Vietnam, and when she and her family had moved here, she'd encountered similar difficulties in trying to adapt as Fuu did now.

The empathy Mina felt for Fuu allowed for the two of them to easily befriend each other, which made the exchange experience all the more enjoyable.

"Yes. I would rove to, so'rong as you will still have me," Fuu declared. In the time she'd spent in America, she, herself was surprised at just how much her ability to understand and speak English had improved. It was taking her less and less time to translate, although she still had trouble with pronunciation and she had yet the capability to properly decipher more complex dialogue.

"Great." Terry said as she went to the phone. "You don't mind walking do you?"

"Not at all."

She quickly punched in several numbers and when Mini picked up on the other end. She informed her that she and Fuu would be picking her up within the next twenty minutes or so.

They talked for a minute or so longer and Fuu busied herself with retrieving a drink from the fridge, so as not to seem as though she were eaves dropping.

When the other girl hung up the phone she turned to Fuu. "Are you ready to go?"

Fuu set her glass down, having finished it.

"I need to go and retlieve my purse first."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the cost."

Fuu went to protest, preferring to pay her own way for things but Terry spoke over her.

"You treated my family to such nice Japanese food last week, just think of it as payback if you must."

"But, I . . . alright."

"Well, come on then Fuu. Let's get going," she said as she headed out the room.

* * *

His world was dying… He could feel it. Once the rivers of the land sparkled like diamonds, the air smelled of sweet flower nectar, and the land itself was a beauty rivaled only by that of the biblical Eden. He remembered it almost perfectly, the way it was before the merge. He remembered growing up in Cephiro's palace, his loving mother and the learning of kendo with her, he remembered developing his magic as one of the master mage's pupils, attempting European fencing with his "**aunt**" Umi-that was when he was but a young child. Infatuated with the tales of the magic knights and determined to become one of them. He smiled fondly. Life had been perfect.

Several years later, his perfect life had become not so perfect. The peaceful world he'd known was caught up in a sudden war. His country's invaders: unknown. They hailed not from any of the neighboring countries. They had simply shone up one day and invaded. He'd been around ten at the time-roughly four years ago.

The invasion wasn't only directed at Cephiro. No, Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta had also fallen under siege, and not long after all four countries were on the verge of destruction and his mother-Cephiro's unofficial Pillar had vanished with out trace. Fear and uncertainty had long since crept back into the people's hearts by that time and the added loss of one of the land's greatest warriors helped none. It increased the people's fears.

But then something happened. The four countries, Cephiro, Fahren, Chizeta, and Autozam had somehow bound with the world Earth, creating a new planet.

Some people had been lost with the merge, but those who had come to exist in the new world possessed no recollection of their past. It was only he who remembered.

The Earth, from what he'd known of it had changed drastically when the forces of the four countries intergraded with it. Some cities were enhanced, however, many, far **too **many were unable to properly merge, resulting in cities of ruin. New materials were created as a result of the merge and they were found to be incredibly strong, stronger than escudo. Unfortunately, it was incredibly hard to forge weapons or anything for that matter.

It wasn't until long after the merge that they had begun to learn their invaders objectives. From what little information had been gathered, it was one, to mine the new materials created from the merge. Many people had been "**captured**" by the invaders and had become their miners and grunt workers because of that. And two, with the merge came a pathway, a stable a road to connect with other worlds. That was what they'd wanted overall. But why did they want a pathway to other dimensions? Why did they desire the new materials created? That was the question that had yet to be answered…

It had been three hours since the most recent battle. It had come unexpectedly, just as all the attacks came and it caught the rebels unawares. Ever so slowly, their numbers were increasing while the rebels were greatly diminishing.

The smell of gun smoke dominated the air and fire engulfed much of the land. Many had died. His katana was already drawn and held at the ready as he sped past the putrid smelling, corpses.

This was life now. The choices, running, hiding or fighting. Did it really matter in the long run?

A shot was sounded and he had little time to react. He was hit in the shoulder from behind and propelled forward by sheer force of the blast. He collided harshly into burning rock and debris. He cried out in agony and tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. He coughed and sensed the enemy closing in. The young one quickly ran a mental check over himself and was thankful that his armour was specialized in absorbing magic attacks- when thought about, magic was a form of energy and what the enemy tended to use was some sort of energy blasting gun. Their weapons were much like the weapons of the Autozams. Though the attack had been able to penetrate his armour and dig into his flesh, it would've been worse if he'd been given the standard armour generally issued to the other fighters.

He could feel his skin, where the armour had been blasted away, swell and crack and bleed as he slowly stood; his injured shoulder arm lye lifelessly at his side. It was at least a second-degree burn if not a third, but at the moment he didn't have the time to check.

The men muttered as they closed in. They looked at him. He wore strange clothing and his hair was a brilliant red, which was pulled into a braid. "What the- we hit this guy with a double blaster Riffle. How can he be able to stand?

"Maybe he's one 'O them Ceps. You know, the magic people," one suggested.

" Move in carefully boys. If he so much as farts, open fire!" Another barked.

"He's just a boy."

"Ain't you heard the rumors 'bout them Ceps? They say they're magic's as powerful as our greatest weapons and they can make themselves look however old or however young they want. This kid could actually be well over a hundred years."

He heard. He shouldn't have been able to hear, but he heard. A bonus to being son of the recent Pillar, was that he could manipulate reality if only just a little. He smiled in honest innocence. "No! I'm only fourteen!" He chirped. He quickly scanned the area until he found where his sword had fallen and then he crouched and sped forward. He ran straight at the soldier in his way. Few had actually reacted by trying to shoot him. And just as he was about to collide into the soldier whom was preparing to attack, he jumped up and somersaulted over him. He dashed to the side and rolled, grabbing his sword in the process. There was another shot and it grazed the side of his shin. He fell back down as he tried to get up and another shot was fired. On instinct, his right hand shot out and he yelled out an attack. A spear of fire came from him and shot forward, piercing through the energy blast and continuing until it impaled itself onto the soldier from whom the blast came. Instantly, the spear dispersed and engulfed the man in an inferno and within moments there was nothing left of him but ash.

A few men stopped their advance in shock and fear. This gave the Magic user time to recover from both the attack on him and the recoil of his counter attack. Magic was very draining on ones self; in this merged world where it was neither the domesticated Earth his mother had hailed from, nor the Cephiro he'd known as a child. But a new world…

He darted forward. He dodged an attack and carried on until he'd meet his first opponent. The man had tried to hit him with the butt of his weapon however, the attack had been used against him and the man was pushed back, off balance. He was dead before he'd even hit the ground.

The boy automatically wiped the blood from his sword. Another charged and he sidestepped the attack then brought his weapon down the center. The man stood still a moment and then, slowly the left side of him slid forward while the right fell to the side. He tore his eyes away; holding his nausea at bay as best he could.

Several more men met their end by his blade. He fell forward when he was attacked from behind. He felt the power of steel toed boots harshly kicking him and he heard the footsteps of others coming to aid his attacker. His eyes closed and again he reluctantly used his magic. Fire gathered between his hands, tendrils of electricity flew outward and then he'd released it. The fire spread out in every direction; attacking every soldier, fore the electricity carried within the flames was drawn to the men's weapons; they were such good conductors.

He breathed deeply and he knew it would take time to recover. After a moment, he tried to stand but found he couldn't. His knees were buckling, his legs were in no better a state and his hands were trembling. He took in deep breaths and relaxed as best he could, forcing himself to overpower his fatigue. It would be a while before he'd be able to move on.

Easily, he now jumped over the debris and ran through the wild flames as though they were mere water droplets until he'd reached the city he was too late to protect. _Another city…_ He lowered his head, then raised it again as he entered. Much of the city was barren and flame kissed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust… he thought bitterly. He remembered someone once saying that and it felt fitting to say it before this city of nothing.

Then he felt it; a presence unique and unknown. He followed it and discovered a woman of sea blue colored hair. By her clothing, he could tell she was a soldier for the invaders.

He motioned to close in on her without her knowing when, his pant leg snagged on a twisted piece of metal. He fell and she turned from her perch to face him.

"Stealthy," she said sarcastically with utter flatness in her voice.

"Not my most dramatic of entrances." He stood up and dusted himself off.

"You killed a lot of people back there."

"Sorry about that, but see, they were kind of trying to **kill** me." He said as he headed towards her.

She stood and turned, ready to face her opponent, however, all she encountered was dust and lifeless gray ash as it was picked up and swept away in the harsh wind. Then she felt a sharp, blade; which abnormally radiated a strong heat graze her throat. "Neat trick huh?" He said obviously impressed with his little vanishing act. "I insist that you people leave. Go back to where you came from."

"That will be a problem." She touched his sword and he suddenly felt deathly cold, like he was being frozen from the inside out. He let go of his weapon and jumped back. He focused his energy when his sword clattered to the scorched ground, dissolving it into fire and reforming in his hand.

"Clever boy." She commented.

A quick motion and a flick of her wrist and a somewhat thin blade of ice formed. She held it with one hand. The other rested on her hip.

He ran forward and attacked. She parried. He raised his sword above his head and brought it down towards hers. She moved to the side then stepped forward and lunged. The ice seared through him, chilling his very soul. She withdrew her weapon from his body and went to stab again when he amazingly caught the blade and used his power to melt it to nothing. He winced as he felt his blood draining from him and then he was propelled backward as an intense pressure of water bombarded him.

He hit the ground, amazingly, still clutching his sword. He made a fist and hurled a spear of fire at her.

"Water dragon." She said calmly and a flood of water raced towards him in the form of a dragon. It consumed his attack and met him with full force. He cried out and was pushed back further.

He looked up at her and found that she was glowing, a dark blue. Her hair was wild and flying in all directions and she attacked with a pummel of ice-cold water. He couldn't concentrate on escaping the continuous attacks and just as he was about to give up and blackout, it stopped. He wasn't sure what was going on, however, he heard heavy footsteps and he looked out to find the silhouette of a man coming towards him.

He instantly went into a defensive position. The man's hands were raised up in defeat. "I'm not here to fight with you."

Being that the man now stood closer to him, he could make out the clothing and saw it was another invader. He held his sword at the ready. He then cringed and hunched over on his knees. He felt the blood rushing from his wounds and he mentally kicked himself for being so careless as to reopen the wound on his shoulder. He gave a dangerous warning glare and then growled. Trying to sound more threatening then he actually was at the moment. Again he cringed then spat the little bit of blood in his mouth.

"I highly doubt that my friend."

There was a moment's pause, then he kneeled down so that they were at eye level. He examined the red head's wounds. He motioned closer and the young man instantly raised his sword-as high as he could. "Your wounds need tending to."

"I'll heal. I don't need your help."

"At this rate you'll bleed to death."

"Why are you so concerned?" He spat.

There was silence again and the older man averted his gaze. Then he stood. "I'll contend with this water witch, I suggest you take your leave." And with that, he turned and left, heading back towards the sapphire haired woman.

"H-Hikari…" The young man whispered and instantly his spirit beast appeared. It was a wild looking wolf-creature. Its fir was shimmering silver and white and its eyes were dark and pensive. It whimpered and licked the red head's cheek. The beast then crouched down and helped its master as best it could to mount the young man on his back. Then the beast took off.

"Ryuuzaku Umi. Correct?"

Being that she was still paralyzed, it took nearly all of the blue haired women's power to look away. That's when she noticed a pin, commonly used for acupuncture, in her arm. No doubt there was some sort of poison coating the tip of the needle.

"What to do with you?" He asked aloud. "You're a very important person, to this Organization. It might be wise to take you away. Then again, perhaps it would be wiser to leave you where I can keep an eye on you." He crouched down, and lifted her chin to have her look at him. "What do you think?"

Umi focused her power and formed a small ice shard within her hand. "I think you should have dealt with me when you had the chance rather than socialize with that kid." She smirked as she pushed the small shard into her thigh. She leapt forward, the blood stained ice piece now targeted at his throat.

He made a few hand gestures. "Stop." He looked at what was held within her hand. He ensnared her gaze with his and held his hand over her forehead and entered her mind.

The plan was to erase his and the other man's encounter with her, and he did, with slight difficulty. Then a thought had occurred to him and he decided to probe her mind to discover what secrets she held. That's when he felt the strong jab shoot through his mind and he nearly lost the connection. His head pounded but he continued to pry and his head began to feel like it would collapse on itself. He knew the woman wasn't the one who was doing this, and so he used much of his power to reveal whom he was truly facing in this battle of mental power. After a few minutes he saw the blurred image of one of the Organization's Scientist-strategists: The man simply known as Eagle.

Unfortunately, he was unable to discover anything more, the other man had a magnificent mental barrier and he was forced out. He clutched his head and felt a warm trickled run from his ears and nose. He touched the liquid slowly running down his face from his nostrils and confirmed that it was in fact his blood.

He looked up at the woman in front of him. He raised his hand and withdrew the pin from her arm. He put it away, slowly stood and walked off. He had to return to his base before his superiors would grow suspicious of his absence. And he also needed time to recover. He thought back to the younger man and wandered what it was that had caused him to nearly blow his cover. And he also wondered why so much energy was placed to keep others out of the blue haired woman's mind.


End file.
